Ode of Showa Restoration

The Ode of Showa Restoration (昭和維新しょうわいしんうた, shōwaishin no uta) is a 1930 song by Japanese naval officer Mikami Taku. It was composed as an anthem for the Young Officers Movement.

The song makes strong appeal to natural and religious imagery. It also references the tragic ancient Chinese hero Qu Yuan, a righteous official and poet of the doomed Chu State in pre-imperial China.

Background

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The Showa Restoration was a movement promoted by Japanese author Kita Ikki, with the goal of restoring power to the newly enthroned Japanese Emperor Hirohito and abolishing the liberal Taishō democracy.[1] The aims of the "Showa Restoration" were similar to the Meiji Restoration as the groups who envisioned it imagined a small group of qualified people backing up a strong Emperor. The Cherry Blossom Society envisioned such a restoration.[2]

The 2-26 Incident was another attempt to bring it about, failing heavily because they were unable to secure the support of the Emperor.[3] The chief conspirators surrendered hoping to make their trial advance the cause, which was foiled by having the trials conducted secretly.[4]

Although all such attempts failed, it was a first step on the rise of Japanese militarism.

Lyrics[5]

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English translation Japanese lyrics Romaji lyrics
Angry waves swell from the depths of the Miluo[P 1]

Mount Wu's peak is hazy with swirling clouds

Alone I stand in this murky and turbid world

My blood simmers in righteous anger

汨羅の淵に波騒ぎ

巫山の雲は乱れ飛ぶ

溷濁の世に我れ立てば

義憤に燃えて血潮湧く

Bekira no fuchi ni nami sawagi

fuzan no kumo wa midaretobu

kondaku no yo ni ware tateba

gifun ni moete chishio waku

The monied elite, beholden to nought but wealth and status

Thinking nothing of this land and its fate

Conglomerates boast of their wealth but

Have not hearts which think of the soil and grain[P 2]

権門上に傲れども

国を憂ふる誠なし

財閥富を誇れども

社稷を思ふ心なし

Kenmonkami ni ogodoredomo

kuni o ureuru makoto nashi

zaibatsu tomi o hokoredomo

shashoku o omou kokoro nashi

Alas, these signs of the nation's collapse

The masses dancing blindly in the stupor of this world

In this nightmare, a political din

The world is reduced to a round of Go

ああ人栄え国亡ぶ

盲たる民世に踊る

治乱興亡夢に似て

世は一局の碁なりけり

Ā hito sakae kuni horobu

meshiitaru tami yo ni odoru

chiran kōbō yume ni nite

yo wa ikkyoku no go narikeri

Under the spring sky of the Showa Restoration

The man[P 3] who marshals a righteous cause

In his heart is the march of a million troops

Ready to fall like ten thousand sakura blossoms

昭和維新の春の空

正義に結ぶ丈夫が

胸裡百万兵足りて

散るや万朶の桜花

Shōwa ishin no haru no sora

seigi ni musubu masurao ga

kyōri hyakuman hei tarite

chiru ya banda no sakurabana

Transcending the shell of crumbled bones

One body among the wisps of clouds

Standing up with concern for the nation

the righteous man's ode begins

古びし死骸乗り越えて

雲漂揺の身は一つ

国を憂ひて立つからは

丈夫の歌なからめや

Furubishi mukuro norikoete

kumo hyōyō no mi wa hitotsu

kuni o ureite tatsu kara wa

masurao no uta nakarame ya

Whether the rage of heaven or the cries of earth

The roar of the epoch is thundering now

From the people's sleep, endless kalpa past

Arise, Japan, at this morn's light!

天の怒りか地の声か

そもただならぬ響あり

民永劫の眠りより

醒めよ日本の朝ぼらけ

Ten no ikari ka chi no koe ka

somo tadanaranu hibiki ari

tami eigō no nemuri yori

sameyo Nihon no asaborake

Storm clouds gather in the heavens nine

Across the four seas, waves rage and crash

The hour[P 4] of revolution is here and nigh

Sweeping Japan like the winds of dusk

見よ九天の雲は垂れ

四海の水は雄叫びて

革新の機到りぬと

吹くや日本の夕嵐

Miyo kyūten no kumo wa tare

shikai no nami wa otakebite

kakushin no toki itarinu to

fuku ya Nihon no yūarashi

O the boundless sky and land

A labyrinth path the man must tread

Of the splendors and praises in this dusty earth

Whose high castle may yet be seen?

ああうらぶれし天地の

迷ひの道を人はゆく

栄華を誇る塵の世に

誰が高楼の眺めぞや

Ā urabureshi ame tsuchi no

mayoi no michi o hito wa yuku

eiga o hokoru chiri no yo ni

taga kōrō no nagame zo ya

Fame and glory are but the figments of a dream

What is immutable is the truth alone

Feeling the will and spirit of mortal life

Who holds the keys to failure or success?

功名何ぞ夢の跡

消えざるものはただ誠

人生意気に感じては

成否を誰かあげつらふ

Kōmyō nani ka yume no ato

kiezaru mono wa tada makoto

jinseiiki ni kanjite wa

seihi o tareka agetsurau

A tragic ode, the Sorrow at Parting[P 5]

Here the heavy elegy finds its end

Setting our hearts we draw our swords

A surging sweep, a dance in blood of massacre.

止めよ離騒の一悲曲

悲歌慷慨の日は去りぬ

われらが剣今こそは

廓清の血に躍るかな

Yameyo risō no ichi hikyoku

hikakōgai no hi wa sarinu

ware-ra ga tsurugi ima koso wa

kakusei no chi ni odoru kana

  1. ^ The Miluo River that feeds into Dongting Lake is where Qu Yuan famously drowned himself in protest.
  2. ^ “Soil and Grain” is an ancient literary Chinese term for the nation and its land. Its use here equips the piece with strong sense of gravity.
  3. ^ The Sino-Japanese term 丈夫, used here and in the fifth stanza, means something like “a masculine character.”
  4. ^ The Japanese kanji here means “opportunity” but its specified phonetic reading means “time.”
  5. ^ “Sorrow at Parting” (Li Sao) is one of Qu Yuan’s most famous works. Here, the poet despairs that he has been plotted against by evil factions at court with his resulting rejection by his lord and then recounts a series of shamanistic spirit journeys to various mythological realms.

References

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  1. ^ James L. McClain, Japan: A Modern History p 414 ISBN 0-393-04156-5
  2. ^ James L. McClain, Japan: A Modern History p 415 ISBN 0-393-04156-5
  3. ^ Meirion and Susie Harries, Soldiers of the Sun: The Rise and Fall of the Imperial Japanese Army p 188 ISBN 0-394-56935-0
  4. ^ Meirion and Susie Harries, Soldiers of the Sun: The Rise and Fall of the Imperial Japanese Army p 193 ISBN 0-394-56935-0
  5. ^ "青年日本の歌(昭和維新の歌)". gunka.sakura.ne.jp. Retrieved 2017-06-02.