Translation: myself
Lyrics: Sakai Mitsuki
Music: Kujou Takemasa
Coloration
Flowers blooming on the dead tree Are coloring the charming 15th night (1)
Dancing in the blowing wind Trivial
things that [make one] forget about reality
A little child is humming
"Let's play"
Under the big Torii gate Waiting in
vain
Even while clapping hands, it
reverberates (2) in the emptiness
Even while shouting [one's] name, it
gently calms down
Playing [games] follows the evening
When the sound of insects is calling
out
Flowers blooming on the dead tree Are coloring the charming 15th night
Dancing in the blowing wind Forgetting about reality
If this dream is about to end It
will leave one all alone (3)
It disappeared being white-hot Towards the eastern (4) sky
A person that laughs behind one's back
The little child always plays hide and
seek with a person with no face
"Let's play"
One
Two
Three
Four
Still not found
The eastern sky is being red-hotly
inflamed
When one's tired of chasing after the
red dragonfly... (5)
"Is it yet?" (6)
Flowers blooming on the dead tree Are coloring the charming 15th night
Dancing in the blowing wind Forgetting about reality
If this dream is about to end It
will leave one all alone
It disappeared being white-hot Waving hand towards the eastern sky
Trivial things that fly off
Footnotes:
- Juugoya is also known as full moon or harvest moon. It was the subject of moon viewing (Otsukimi) in the past due to its unique beauty.
- Lit. tree spirit - Kodama. Those tree spirits were often associated with echo
- Wordplay: 独法師 [hitoribocchi] written as 独楽師 [komashi] - master of spinning the top]. In Edo Japan the art of spinning the top was a relatively popular hobby.
- East is linked here with the daybreak – the moment when one wakes up from their dream
- Dragonfly is a symbol of power and victory in Japan
- It derives from Japanese version of hide and seek (kakurenbo). The one who "seeks" counts and asks is it yet? (mou ii kai?) while people who "hide" themselves reply with not yet (maada da yo) when not ready or It is yet (mou ii yo) when ready.
Discussion:
To be frank... I have no clue what to think about this song. Lyrics themselves were relatively easy to translate. The problem is that, I was unable to find any concrete interpretation while translating.
My suspicion is that this song is clad in Japanese buddhist philosophy of mono no aware (lit. the pathos of things). Briefly said, it is a concept meaning the awareness and acceptance of impermanence. The realization that every creature grows up, appears at its finest while being a full-fledged adult, then gets old and eventually passes away. The same goes for nature, beauty, dreams etc. This motif is, in fact, deeply rooted in classical Japanese literature and culture.
(Have you ever wondered why Japanese are so fond of observing nature [inter alia blooming cherry blossom]? Because of mono no aware)
One of the most famous Japanese poems - Iroha is a perfect example of this phenomenon:
"Although its scent still lingers onthe form of a flower has scattered awayFor whom will the gloryof this world remain unchanged?Arriving today at the yonder sideof the deep mountains of evanescent existenceWe shall never allow ourselves to drift awayintoxicated, in the world of shallow dreams"(translation: Prof. Ryuichi Abe)
I think this poem has something to do with Irodori as well. Irodori means coloration while iro in iroha literally means color, and trivial things might be possibly the reference to shallow dreams.
Coincidence? I think not.
Also, the mono no aware motif. In this song, we have a ghost (not sure about this) of a child who night by night seeks for a company to play their wordly games. However no one will answer anymore, because an average human being possesses no ability to see otherwordly phenomena. The transcience of human life, emotions, dreams and wordly desires entrapped in infantile apparition.
Makes sense, but still... I am not sure about that.
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