This is the first song from the song cycle "Takuboku ni yosete utaeru" (Songs Dedicated to Takuboku), published in 1938 by Koshitani Tatsunosuke, an active music educator, composer, and accompanying pianist. The cycle sets 15 tanka poems by the short-lived poet and tanka poet Ishikawa Takuboku (1886–1912). This particular song is dedicated to the soprano singer Miura Tamaki, with whom Koshitani frequently collaborated. The original poem for "Hatsukoi" (First Love) is the sixth poem in "Ware o aisuru uta" (Songs of Loving Myself), which is the first of five song collections found in the poetry anthology "Ichiaku no Suna" (A Handful of Sand). The 551 poems composed by Takuboku between 1908 (Meiji 41) and 1910 (Meiji 43) are organized into five thematic chapters. These poems are arranged in a sequence that progresses from expressions of present sentiments to recollections of the past, eventually returning to works that describe the present. This arrangement creates a cyclical progression through life, revealing the author's character and inner world. The vocal melody of "Hatsukoi" was likely composed with the dedicatee, Miura Tamaki, in mind, featuring a charming and expansive melody that makes extensive use of high notes. Conversely, the piano part effectively employs chromaticism to convey the fluctuating emotions of first love, and is further characterized by frequent changes in meter as it progresses.