Pathway to Japanese Literature

From the Author

A life without moisture was dead ashes.
Life was not dead ashes.

Folk songs were the sole local poetry that immediately reached out to the people and conveyed the emotions of ethnic life, and they were the natural poetry of the soil.

Works without the people's handshake, without bringing moisture to life, and lacking local color were not the poetry we desired.

Gokuraku Tonbo was my modest folk song collection that sought to convey, even if only slightly, the emotions of ethnic life.

Folk songs were not poetry to be read with the heart; they were poetry for the ear, they were music.
This collection contained many works composed by Mr. Motoori Nagayo and Mr. Nakayama Shimpei.
There were also over ten works composed by Mr. Fujii Kiyomi.
In addition, there were works composed by both Mr. Yanada Tei and Mr. Murozaki Kingetsu.
This collection had also included a number of works composed by Miss Sato Chiyako and two or three other young women.

The drying up of the heart was quenched by folk songs, and the emotions of the people were healed by folk songs.
Folk songs also possessed formidable power in the realm of social education.

Folk songs were not literary art confined to a limited class.
They were the people’s poetry discovered by poets of the soil.

Folk songs are national poetry.

Traveler's Song

The mountains are high and
The plains stretch vast.
Alone, trudging
The journey's length

Parched without respite
Tears fall
What I long for—
Hometown sky

Today too, where
The setting sun descends
What land
Not knowing where it ends

O flowing water
O bird adrift in sleep
Distant hometown's
O longed-for sky

Tomorrow too, where
The setting sun descends
What land could this be?

Not even knowing where it ends

(The Traveler's Song was created for its appearance in the Theater Stage Association's production "Resurrection".)

Boatman's Song

I

I am the riverbank's
Withered pampas grass

You too are the same
Withered pampas grass
After all, we two—
In this world,
flowers do not bloom

Withered pampas grass

II

Whether we die or live,

“Hey there, you—”

“In the water’s flow,”

"What would we become?

Both me and you,

the Tone River's

boatmen upon its waters—

let us live this life."

III

On withered manchurian wild rice
the moon shines -
Itako Dejima's
Moon-san -
I shall become
the Tone River's
boatman on boats
and we will live.

IV

"Why must this bitter wind blow cold
through withered pampas grass
that knows our fate?

When scalding tears rise
from roots we share,
O Moon—draw them up
to your silver bowl."

V

After all, we two—
In this world,
flowers do not bloom

Withered pampas grass
With water as our pillow,
Tone River’s
as boatmen on the boats
Let’s live.

Edo Festival Song

Edo's True Native

Kanda Market

I of Kanda's

O bards, o bards

Edo Festival Yoi Yoi Yoi

Three Tennō’s

The tutelary deity

Today's souvenir

Bamboo leaf dumplings, bamboo leaf dumplings

Edo Festival Yoi Yoi Yoi

The distant past—

The distant past is remembered

Kanda Gokochō

Edo Festival, Edo Festival

Edo Festival Yoi Yoi Yoi

(The Edo Festival Song was composed for the Kanda Myōjin Festival Ritual.)

Hometown Song

Sing, beloved longing
The song of hometown—
Mita, how nostalgic

Second Hometown

Stomp feet resoundingly and sing out resoundingly

Whether wind or storm

When winds blow "Mita!"

Far and distant

O morning star

Stomp your feet resoundingly and sing out resoundingly

Merely hearing "Mita"

becomes yet more nostalgic

Mita's track team

Majestic figure

Stomp your feet resoundingly and sing out resoundingly

(Song of Hometown was created as a cheer song for the Keio University Track Team.)

From Kirigatake

From Kirigatake

O morning-rising mist

Even seeing the mist

Father and Mother dear

Are remembered

It simply cannot be borne

How I miss my hometown

In the shadow of that mountain

Even if the mist disappears
Father and Mother dear
are remembered
It simply cannot be borne

(Kirigatake kara was created as a dormitory song for Fukuoka Prefecture Kokura Girls' High School.)

Ina's Ryūgaoka

Ina's Ryūgaoka
Peach blossoms in full bloom
Shall we tend to the spring silkworms?

Shall we dry the baskets in the drying yard?
The spring silkworms have become hatched larvae.
The weather is fine—
Let’s beat the frames,
Mulberry-Picking Song—

(Ina's Ryūgaoka was created for the Ryūgaoka Village Youth Association in Kamiina District, Nagano Prefecture.)

No home to return to.

(A verse from the song in the movie *Sasurai no Shōjo*)

No home to return to.

Is this a journey with no return?

Water flows.

Dusk approaches

Live safely

Stay well

Let us live safely

Let us stay well

Is autumn too coming to an end?

The day has already grown dark.

Even deep affection—

The seed of tears?

Spring-falling snow

What could be strange?

Spring-falling snow—yo—

Even the mountain peaks—

Melts in one night
My waistband too—
Spring-falling snow—oh—?
On the night I reached Ina
Melted away smoothly

(Ina is a small city in Shimoina District, Nagano Prefecture.)

Tsugaru Plain

In the midst of Tsugaru Plain's fields
In the midst of Tsugaru Plain's fields
Swish-swish swish-swish swish-swish swish
Bloomed rapeseed flowers—the rapeseed flowers—
Bloomed rapeseed flowers—the rapeseed flowers—
Swish-swish swish-swish swish-swish swish

Sleep and grow thin, sleep and grow thin—that fine figure
Sleep and grow thin, sleep and grow thin—that fine figure

Swish-swish swish-swish swish-swish swish

(Tsugaru Plain was created for Hirosaki City's Mizutori-sha.)

Tajima Yamaguni

Tajima Yamaguni
O-Crescent Moon too
From the mountain shadow

Creeps into shadow
Mountain shadow—is that you?
O Crescent Moon—

Tajima Yamaguni

Starlit Moonlit Night of Love

(Tajima Yamaguni was created for Himeji City's Kouhara-sha.)

Tempest Night

Drink! Cocktail!

Sing the song of the future!

Crimson and inflamed—

Two people's hearts

Let’s play the balalaika—

Russia’s song!

The sky a dark night—

Not a star in sight

Knock on the window—

O storm! O rain!

Tomorrow’s dawn—

Cannot be waited for—

The island’s old nest

When the sea darkens

Return to the shore
For the wind blows

O storm petrel
When the shore darkens
Return to the old nest

Blown by the wind

O storm petrel

Naniwa's Seagull

Where does the wind blow—

Naniwa's river?

Seagull—

Naniwa's seagull
Night—where does it sleep
Naniwa's bridge?
Seagull—Naniwa’s
Lovely bird—

Moon of young leaves

Your figure whenever seen—
Young leaves' moon—

Fresh and dewy—

Too much—too much—

Fresh and dewy—

Your words—the sandy plain’s
From the sandy moon—
Still hazy—
Too much—too much—
Still hazy—
If it's the same country—
If it's the same country—
Someone from the hometown?
Just hearing it—
Feels nostalgic.

Now—right up until now
We had forgotten—
As a village girl
In my time—

I've remembered now!

seed of tears

flowers are red

flowers are crimson

Sing oh sing
Dance oh dance
Dance the social dance
Shake the castanets
Clatter-clack-clatter-clack
Beat tambourine
Shya-shyang-gashyan
Dance oh dance
Drink firewater oh drink

I am Black Cat

I

I am Black Cat

The dark night suits me

To cold Russia—

Shall I cross? Shall I go?

Let's go to Russia's

To the snow-falling country

Body and soul sold—

I am Black Cat.

II

The wind blows—blows—

Out in the harbor's offing

Cold Russia's
Wind blowing through its realm—
I'll go—tomorrow
To Russia's land—
After all—I was sold—
I am Black Cat—

III

Birds fly through the sky.

O birds of the sky

Won't you take me along

To Russia's land—

Russia—how I yearn

Is it a fire-breathing country?

Seldom heard from

I am Black Cat.

Even the rose flowers—

I

Even the rose flowers

Though they bloom crimson

Never to return again

Parted love—

Dream or tears?

Flowing water?

How vexing I am

Cast-off love—

II

Even the rose flowers

Though they bloom crimson

Please come back

Parted love—

Dreams—tears—

Flowing water—

How vexing I am—

Love that never returns—

III

Even the rose flowers

Though they bloom crimson

Unforgettable

Aching love—

Dreams and tears

The winds of this fleeting world

How vexing I am

Withered love—

Senba Karasu

Of my birthplace,

O dear father and mother

Today too I

While spinning thread

Father, I called out.

Mother, I called out.

Of a thousand crows

Their caw caw cries.

I miss Father.

I miss Mother.

Sad sea—

Crashing and surging—

The Echigo Sea:

Is this a sea of love?

Sea Bulbul—

Scattered apart—

Waves, cease your crashing!

Even the same sea,

The Echigo Sea—

Crashing and surging—

A sea of sorrow?

Scattered apart—

Waves, cease your crashing!

Love is life—

I

Love is my affair, my life

La la la, lan la la, lan lan lan

If you value your life—
Do not love, I tell you

Love is—life—a woman's life

La la la, lan la la, lan lan lan

Since I was born into this world after all—

Love is my affair—my life

La la la, lan la la, lan lan lan

II

Blow, winds of love—my life

La la la, lan la la, lan lan lan
If it's love to be cast aside—
Do not love, I tell you
Love is—push, push—a woman's life
La la la, lan la la, lan lan lan
Anyway brief—this world of ours—
Blow, winds of love—my life
La la la, lan la la, lan lan lan

III

Love's narrow path—my life

La la la, lan la la, lan lan lan

Throw away your life—since you love—I tell you

Love is—a collar—a woman’s collar

La la la, lan la la, lan lan lan

Since I was born a woman after all—

Love's narrow path—my life

La la la, lan la la, lan lan lan

Life atop wire mesh

Owari Nagoya's

Mr. Shachihoko—

On a high scaffold—

Wire mesh life

Tsushima women too

Mr. Shachihoko too—

The same Nagoya's

Windswept
A chirping insect
Under blue moonlight—
Oh chirping insect
The riverside mugwort
Withers from its tips
This blue moonlit night too—
How long would this continue?
Don't chirp for me
Oh chirping insect

Swallow dear
How many years had passed since coming to Hamamachi?
On the drying platform
Swallow dear
"You're a migratory bird too, aren't you?"

Until yesterday I'd said nothing
But I too am journey's—
I am a bird
Now I—to distant places—

I’m going—

Of the drying platform,

Swallow dear,

Today we part.

Won't you cry?

Harima Evening Calm

Harima Evening Calm

All hearts yearn

Arousing and being aroused

Being stirred

Arouses

Gypsy Song

Even lovely women—
Today I quit.
Nighttime at the bar—
Drinking cup liquor—
Getting drunk and singing—
I'll live through song—
I left my homeland—

The Gypsy bird—
from journey's end to beyond,
migrates onward to horizons new.
After all, I too
am the Gypsy bird—
While coins still clink,
drinking liquor by the cup.
Daytime finds me at the bar,
sipping liquor by the cup.

Drunkenly singing—

I’ll live by singing

Moss roses

On the drying platform
The blooming flowers
Were moss roses.
There’d been moss roses.

I truly

I’m so ashamed.

I’ve taken my leave.

I'm going back.

In the Shade of Pampas Grass

The lost child waits in vain

Doesn't return

In the distant rice fields

A fox cries

The lost child—evening too—

Doesn't return

On the salt-burning shore

A fox cries

The lost child—the lost child—

Doesn't return

From the shade of pampas grass
A fox cries

Black Hair

I'll abandon even my parents.

If told to abandon,

I'll cut my hair too.

Even this black hair—

How utterly agonizing—

My chest—
Stab and kill—

Give it to me—you—

After five years pass

After five years pass
Take me as your bride
Wait for me
Wait for me
Nineteen twenty-one
Twenty-three or twenty-four—
Could I keep waiting?
Could I keep waiting?
It's all so pointless

I'll play the Taishō zither
Lost Love or something—
strumming hard—
Restless Heart

Shall I drink at the bar?
Shall I go to the Café?
To the bar woman—
Shall I have her pour drinks?

Watching the pouring act—
Shall I try deceiving?
Deceive skillfully—

Shall I run a tab?
If I run a tab—
Shall I default on the bill?

Since I intend to default anyway—
Shall I drink my fill?

Moonrise

I

Of the red sunset
At the glass window
Lonely with you
I was lost in tears
I and first love
Was I cast away—?

Johnny Heart,
my husband,
You were love's wind
that had come stealing.
In Ross, I—
a daughter born.

Please listen—
In a Scotch suit,
Johnny Heart,
was I cast away—?

(Johny Heart’s Song)

II

The young girl—
Crimson beyond flowers,
Withering yet unwithered—
Crimson beyond flowers—
Truly gentle:
That singing voice—
Granier’s beloved song...

In dream and waking world,
Months and days passed by;
Now ashamed—
The wasteland’s form.

(Granier's Song)

III

The vast world—

When will the night end?

Stars stream—
to the boundless realm—

The hour was nearly upon us—

The dawn wind—

In fits and starts

Blew at the wharf

Let us meet tonight

At the riverbank

Stagnant water,

At the riverbank

Blow for me

The signal whistle

Faint moonrise

Before dawn

(Moonrise Song)

Blue flower

harbor shore’s

Blue flower
Withered by love
Blue flower
I was abandoned
By a man
Abandoned
By beloved man
Harbor shore's
Blue flower

Withered by love
blue flower
by beloved man
was abandoned
I, the harbor's
blue flower

Oshichi

Hongō-Komagome’s

Gazing at the temple roof
Oshichi the greengrocer—
Oshichi keeps being recalled, keeps being recalled

Oshichi the greengrocer—
Burned by the fire in her chest—
Ah, these withering thoughts—
She was a girl, she was a girl
Even completely desolate,
At the thicket of Suzugamori
Even now—tin-trin—

The insects chirp, the insects chirp
Dapper swallow
Dapper swallow!
Where are you going?
A young woman
Going to see her?
The dapper swallow—
He likes women

“Ohoho.”

“Ohoho.”

I'll become a bride.

Should I go and tell?

In the evening, to Mother,

I'll ask her.

After Work

returning from the factory

Mr. Foreman
slapped his wallet,
drank warmed sake.
The sake's heat
seeped into his belly.
Gazing reverently at the wallet,
he drank alone.
Clink-clank went
the bar's entrance -
cold reverberating
through geta teeth.

Gazing reverently at the wallet,
drank warmed sake.
The empty wallet—
was it grateful?

Mr. Black Soft,
I am the café's
ephemeral woman.

Got drunk, drunk again—
forgive me,
Mr. Black Soft.

Tomorrow night at last,
Joyous promise.
Let us bind it, shall we?
Joyous promise.
Tomorrow night at last,
Mr. Black Soft,
Come softly.

Fulling block
Tonk-tonk-tonk
Beating fulling block
Sister and sister beat the fulling block
The moon was half-risen, I suppose
The forest's heavens

The moon had risen.

The elder sister was made to cry by a man.

The younger sister too,

was made to cry by a man.

Tonk-tonk-tonk.

Beating fulling block
The moon was half-risen, I suppose.
The moon peeked out slightly.
At Nunono Ferry Crossing
The moon peeked out slightly.
For whom does one wait?
Are they awaited?
Clack-clack clack-clack
Oh, clack-clack clack-clack
No one waits.
Not even awaited.
Beloved you,
Out of longing to meet

Oh, clack-clack clack-clack
Beloved you are
In the town of Suzaka
Longed-for Suzaka
The moon peeked out slightly.

Clack-clack clack-clack

Oh, clack-clack clack-clack

(The moon that peeked out slightly was a factory girl song created for the Yamamaru-gumi Silk Company in Suzaka Town, Nagano Prefecture.)

Ina Kouta

□

Kiso and Ina are
Back to back
Back-to-back

Only wind

□

The deep becomes the shallows.
Tenryū River's
Dammed water—

This dammed water—my very being.

Komoro Song

□

Jōshū Overlook

Mount Asama—
In the chest, a smoldering
burns with fire

□

To Love's Komoro

To Komoro Town
Blow not, Mount Asama's
Mountain downslope wind
Oh Honorable Three Great Stars

(Song of a Young Woman Wandering the Burned Capital's Wasteland)

Oh Honorable Three Great Stars

Don't keep me waiting

Here I stand in the dead of night

All alone

If you tell me to wait—

Don't keep me waiting

If I'm pitiful—

Don't make me weep

This strikes too close—

This isn't some complaint

If you'll take me with you—

Don't abandon me

Oh Honorable Three Great Stars

Take us all with you.

I in the burned wasteland

All alone

(Oh Honorable Three Great Stars are commonly called the Three Stars, celestial bodies that descend in the western sky around dawn.)

Senkata Falls Song

There is no second sun.

Mount Asama—

My wish—

What will you do with my wish—

(Senkata Falls is a summer resort at the base of Mount Asama.)

Mitsui Tagawa

Mitsui Tagawa's

The pit wind—

The wind of love or what—

I—the one who yearns—

(Mitsui Tagawa is a coal mining area in Fukuoka Prefecture.)

Chiyo no Matsubara

Chiyo no Matsubara

O spindly pine

Scattered pine needles'

Am I so much—

Have you come to meet?
Have you come to make me weep?
If you've come to meet—
Step forth and greet me

If you say 'Cry'—
I shall weep then—
Let it flow away with song

Pass through the alley

(Chiyo no Matsubara is a noted spot in Hakata, Fukuoka Prefecture.)

Seasonal Dance

Spring

Spring's flower?

The cherry blossoms—

It's spring's flower

That flower—

Chyachyarachya Yattosa

Summer

Summer sky?

Evening shower clouds—

It's summer's sky

That cloud—

Chyachyarachya Yattosa

Autumn

Autumn's moon?

On the pampas grass

It's autumn's moon

That moon—

Chyachyarachya Yattosa

Winter

Winter's wind?

The wind through golden blooms—

It's Winter's wind

That wind—

Chyachyarachya Yattosa

(The Seasonal Dance is a dance song created as a new dance to replace the Bon dance.)

Swallow
Migratory bird?
The swallow's
Bird—
It's a migratory bird
That bird—
Come again, swallow

The passing of time—

O swallow

How swiftly it flows—

Think thus

South wind blows—

Come again, swallow

When cherry blossoms bloom

Come, swallow

South wind blows—

O swallow

I shall wait—

Think thus

Through cloud gaps

Songs bloom peach

Pale peach.

Human hearts too—
Is everyone deception?
Human hearts and

The moon through cloud gaps—
The moon in cloud gaps
Shade crossing

Wave Pillow

Last night again from you

Tidings arrived

Hakata Kojorō—

Wave Pillow

I too, Hakata’s

Wave pillow—
forgive me I pray—
evening tidings

Sado Island

The sea with seabirds

Seagull

The sea's distant reaches—

What land—

That is Echigo's

Sado Island

Waves, do not crash

Waves, do not crash

Sado is Echigo's

Remote island

Serpent's heart

In a serpent's heart

That it became this—

You—me—

Because you abandoned me

The bud called love—

That it burned—

The end—steadfastly

Because I think—

If you abandon me, abandon me completely—

Beyond this—
with a serpent's heart
if I must die let me die

Outbound ship

offshore—a passing shower
the shore—rain

the ship—is it outbound?
is the tide at full—

the tide is full tide

Harbor ships—
Wind mingled with passing showers—
the wind blows
The brown-eared bulbul comes
In the thicket—camellia flowers’

When they bloom—

The brown-eared bulbul comes—the brown-eared bulbul comes—

In the forest house—I am a girl—

Brown-eared bulbul,

Come today—come tomorrow and sing—

Camellia flowers—that flower’s

The flower’s crimson—

The brown-eared bulbul comes—the brown-eared bulbul comes—

dusk-shadow grass—

dusk-shadow grass’—

At the blooming shore—

From above the sea—

The moon emerges—

In dusk-shadow grass—

dusk—

Dew gradually thickens—
grows denser—
dusk-shadow grass's
Even the flowers—
evening's dew—
bloom within—

Blue moonlit night
Oh thread-spinning creature
Tonight is a moonlit night
In the shadow of the storehouse
Spin thin threads—spin threads
Every house's roof
Blue blue moonlit night

Weaver's Song

One

Nineteen, twenty are
Dreams of the past—
Thump-thud, thump-thud
thud thud clack clack
Even past thirty
Weaving figure

Thump-thud, thump-thud

thud thud clack clack

Pitiable—
That's me you mean.

Thump-thud, thump-thud
Thud thud clack clack

I'll keep up!
On and on

Thump-thud thump-thud

thud thud clack clack

Two

If you’ll cherish me—

I ask just one thing.

Thump-thud, thump-thud

thud thud clack clack

Where shall we live—

In fields and mountains we’ll sleep—

Thump-thud, thump-thud

thud thud clack clack

Even past thirty—

heart at twenty

Thump-thud, thump-thud

thud thud clack clack
I'll keep up!
Endlessly
Thump-thud, thump-thud
thud thud clack clack

Three

Even the shuttle's thread

Pulled taut yet yielding

Thump-thud, thump-thud

thud thud clack clack

If none would pull

If no bridge spanned—

Thump-thud, thump-thud

thud thud clack clack

Even past thirty—

O Bride

Thump-thud, thump-thud

thud thud clack clack

I’ll keep up!

Endlessly

Thump-thud, thump-thud

thud thud clack clack

Pale aqua

My feet turned—turned
Toward Ginza
Red Ginza’s
O café liquor
Lovely sheer silk’s
Pale aqua
The lightness of feet

This lightness

Yoneyama Song

I've steeled my resolve

Yoneyama-sama!

To live on and on—
To die on love's path—
My heart too
Has come to this darkness.

Wherever the sun shines,
The sun shines the same

I've abandoned my hometown too.
I'm leaving this land.
Even as a traveler's lot—
Even as a traveler's lot—

Even so—

Tomorrow I part—

Do I mean to go?

Even if told to come seek me out—

Even so—

Part like this—

Do I mean to go?

Even if you tell me to wait—

Even so—

No matter what—part—

Do I mean to go?

Jōshū Highway

Jōshū Highway was

The spring day was long.

Heave-ho, heave-ho,

Tethered horses passed.

Singing voices and such
Teahouse tea and such
Fluttering about—

The sun is still high.

Scorched Earth of the Imperial Capital

On September 1, 1923, following the Great Earthquake, a great fire broke out, and the majority of the imperial capital became scorched earth.

I

When I see the scorched wasteland,

Tears fall—they fall

Firestorm. Sea of flames.

Hell of flames—hell!

II

In just one night becoming scorched wasteland—

Could I have thought—could anyone have thought—

Could I have thought—

Hell of flames—hell!

III

In a scorched wasteland,

Even pheasants cry—cry out

Those who weep are firestorm’s crowds—

Crowds of people—crowds of people

IV

Parents call children

Children call parents—call out!

Voices swirl

The flames rage—rage madly!

V

This is the capital's

form of yesterday—this form—

Alive in the firestorm—

This world’s hell—hell!

This world's hell—hell!