Hadoma yori / Kiryu

Kanji & Romaji: hiphopvomit
Translation: myself

Lyrics & music: Kujou Takemasa




鉢特摩ヨリ [Hadoma yori] (no vid available)
From the Hell of Crimson Lotus



Haunting the endless cycle of rebirth     One's inborn nature
Laughing evilly
Painting the cavity     And running after personal grudges
Another disoriented person     ah-.

Rumors are drifting towards joy
Laughing foolishly
A face with two dancing tongues      [Shows] feigned ignorance

The one appealing more to the divine will is
Floating across the three currents (1)

A swarm revolving in nonsense     Coronation (2) has ended     Let's put the crimson lotus on
That is, the heaven sent ends     Beckoning flame
The one who has an evil influence on a pure person [dwelling] in the frog's well (3)     Weal and woe is... what I ask
Too late     Yet, as a human being     It's different

Flicker and bewilderment     Being intoxicated in nectar
Laughing in no wickedness
Moaning voice is approaching "Look, I caught you"

The one appealing more to the divine will is
Floating across the three currents

A swarm sent back to death (4)    Escapes without making sacrifices     Going beyond the blue lotus (5)
Flower petals fluttering on one's limbs     The lotus flower is crimson
Knowing one's death while being insistenly ignorant fool     One's own weakness

Ah     Intensely     Lamenting

For thousands of years     Without having or even knowing one's whereabouts     I draw a spiral
Slowly, one's face being ripped off    The lotus on one's limbs
Hateful fate
Crimson firmament     Illuminated in setting sun     Dazzling beauty
Beyond it     The lotus blooms

More appealing than myriads of years, regrettable [worldly] existence.
It doesn't stop raining from the cloudy sky and it accelerates the north wind (6).
Foolishness landing in seven [pieces] (7) reaches its peak, the lotus won't wither today.
I think... "Get lost"


Footnotes:

1. A reference to Sanzu river (三途の川 [Sanzu no kawa] - River of Three Crossings) - Japanese buddhist equivalent of Styx from Greek mythology; the three crossings are: a bridge, a ford, and a spot where there's only deep serpent-infested water; your route across Sanzu is chosen depending on the weight of your sins commited while being alive
2. I think it's a reference to the 鉢 kanji of 鉢特摩, which means inter alia crown
3. 井蛙 [seia] - frog in a well refers to a person with a narrow perspective; the proverbial frog who jugdes the entire world knowing only its own narrow well
4. 寂滅 [jakumetsu] can mean nirvana as well
5. A reference to 摩訶鉢特摩地獄 [Makahadoma jigoku] known as Hell of Blue Lotus; even colder than Hadoma, but sinners undergo similar torments (see: discussion)
6. North is associated with one of buddhist Four Heavenly Kings (Shitennou) - Tamonten (Bishamonten); Bishamonten also belongs to one of Japanese Seven Lucky Gods (Shichi Fukujin), praised by samurai as the god of fortune in war; he protects those who follow the rules; Tamonten is also mentioned in Lotus sutra
7. See: discussion

Discussion:

<ramble> They say, curiosity killed a cat.
"I wonder what Negi's lyrics would look like"
"They shouldn't be so extensively difficult"
I was sorely mistaken. </ramble>


According to Lotus sutra, every single person is eligible for aquiring Enlightenment and entering the Buddhahood. But what if we compare the greed for Enlightenment to something that is the total opposite of it?

Well... Hell.

Buddhist concept of hell is much more complex than that of Christian one. You might be accustomed to the existence of sole hell, with blazing inferno and whatnot. Buddhist one, referred to as Naraka differentiates into eight hot and layering them eight cold hells called Jigoku. Each Jigoku has its something I call "sub-hells" (lesser hells) which yields approximately 270 hells in total. Essentially, Jigoku are placed one over another, meaning - the deeper one, the more severe it becomes.

While you can find numerous information on monstrous, fiery Jigoku, it's much more difficult to collect any relevant data on those horrendously cold ones. Essentially the Hadoma from this song's title is the seventh cold Jigoku, also known as 紅蓮地獄 [guren jigoku] - literally Hell of Crimson Lotus. Briefly speaking, people who fall into this Jigoku, undergo an extreme freeze making their skin crack in pattern resembling a lotus flower and revealing bloody flesh, hence its name. But what kind of sinner does end up in Hadoma? I would like to know the exact answer myself. English and Japanese resources seem to be utterly clueless. Chinese resources, on the other hand, reveal something about buddhist monks. Monks are somewhat connected with Enlightenment, right.

Since Hadoma is the seventh Jigoku, I think, the number 7 might be also essential to the overall understanding. 7 in buddhism is associated with the death and rebirth. Also, it refers to the Seven Factors of Enlightenment:

1. Mindfulness - holistic awareness of the present moment; to abstain from desires, daydreams, judgements and conceptualizations
2. Investigation - the truth of the nature of existence should be found by the individual themself
3. Energy - the required strength and courage on one's path to Enlightenment
4. Happiness - to do what makes one content
5. Tranquility - the necessity of rest after finished work to calm one's mind
6. Concentration - (do I need to elaborate)
7. Enquanmity - to not get into extremes of likes and dislikes

Basically, what one should do to achieve eventual Enlightenment.

I think it is a good moment for summing all this mess up. Lotus hell - Lotus sutra. Meaning, constant pursuit of Enlightenment. The subject of Hadoma yori is somehow unable to achieve it themself due to their mental dissonance which is unfavorable in buddhist concept of Enlightenment. It gradually leads to the crippling feel of envy, because they see everybody being in better situation than them, being more eligible for the divine will than them which makes them all the more distant from their dream if we consider teachings of Seven Factors of Enlightenment. But it is said, everyone can be enlightened, right? So is the subject still desperately trying to change their miserable fate.

Literal hell of a song, that is. Yet, extremely interesting. Also, really difficult to explain its hidden meaning due to its complexity. This makes me think it is a contest - who will come up with more intricate lyrics. Negi, you can compete with Mahiro. That is already something in and of itself, maan.

Hyakki yakou / Kiryu

Kanji & Romaji: hiphopvomit
Translation: myself

Lyrics & music: Sakai Mitsuki





百鬼夜行 [Hyakki yakou]
Night Parade of One Hundred Demons



Knitting, patching and fixing the disguise (1)     Fabricated smile     Dress right dress (2)
Writhing in pain while having the head chopped off     Tongue speaking the truth (3) is a lizard's tail

Manacles     Life's bondage     Light swaying here and there
Deadly sea of darkness is floating in the evening     Losing a companion leads to tedium

Successively (4)     Slowly (5)

Insects are crawling inside the head

Successively     Slowly

Devouring torn off nails, squirming bewilderment

What to chase, what to demand, what to cling to
Remaining unseen     While remaining unknown, Night Parade of One Hundred Demons (6) progresses
Boisterously noisy festival accompaniament is screaming from the viscera of mind (7)
Lying larynx (8) is being bitten and torn into pieces, that is the result of the real voice

Trembling with fear in the lie caressing the darkness     Therefore the light    seems to be slippery as an eel
To die in the life-burning lie

Soon     Slowly

Insects are dancing inside the head

Lied eggs of insects are thickly dripping

Dark senses smeared in familiar dirty mud are getting dim
When one's hand is pulled by a cruel hand, Night Parade of One Hundred Demons progresses
Transient world is prepared to flee (9) in boisterously noisy festival accompaniament
Not turning back, having one's ears plugged      Going as well as returning is so scary (10)

Lie that was experienced and sent around is like a nectar     Telling lies around while being unconsciously intoxicated

Nearby... One disguise (11) fell down     On another side, thousands deceptions

To indulge in the darkness, wriggle and [eventually] die      Or to tear the darkness off, paw at the ground and [eventually] die
Swaying paper lantern     Is carried off by the night wind     Disordered     One's footsteps of life


Footnotes:

1. As in 化けの皮を剥ぐ [bake no kawa wo hagu] - to unmask one's true nature / intentions; lit. to rip off one's disguise / face's skin
2. A military command in order to find dress and alignment in a formation
3. 本音 [honne] - what one really thinks; the opposite is 建て前 [tatemae] - what one says to people (usually fabricated)
4. Onomatopoeic word: ぞろぞろ [zorozoro] - in groups / in succession
5. Onomatopoeic multitool word: だらだら [daradara] - (inter alia) dripping / slowly / leisurely / endlessly
6. See: discussion
7. Wordplay: 心臓 [shinzou] - heart (anat.) written as 心の臓 [shin no zou] - viscera (guts) of mind
8. 喉笛 [nodobue] used here actually means windpipe; since it literally means throat pipe / flute (kanji wise), I decided to translate it into larynx, because I've found it fitting
9. Or to become restless / to become agitated
10. A reference to Japanese children song Tooryanse
11. See: footnote (1)

Discussion:

On the day of the dog of fourth lunar month, don't you dare to leave your house at night. You may encounter - Hyakki yakou - Night Parade of One Hundred Demons, which means death. Death of you and your beloved ones.

However, what do demons do in this song? They are a simile to lies. Imagine a person speaking fabricated words all the time, for instance an individual suffering from compulsive / pathological lying disorder. Reasons of one to lie may vary. From impress to avoid certain situations (though pathological liars may lie just for the sake of fraud itself). The fear of being unmasked is also present - it may lead one to make up more lies just to cover up them being caught on lying. Pathological liars also seem to be nervous when they have to speak the truth.

Releasing those one hundered demons, or more precisely - being utterly unmasked as an impostor, much like opening the Pandora's box may cause multiple disasters for the liar as well as for surrounding them people. In other words, I consider Hyakki yakou (as a motif) a metaphor of a pathological liar's darkness of mind. A night where demons dwell and parade.

Well done, Mitsuki.

Kagee no karasu / Kiryu

Kanji & Romaji: hiphopvomit
Translation: myself

Lyrics & music: Sakai Mitsuki





影絵ノ鴉 [Kagee no karasu]
Crow from the shadow picture



You've seen through me, so I flew away...

What song shall I compose, in this sunset dyed red
The one who blends into the hoarsed autumn is me, "Crow from the shadow picture"
In the twilight, see you tomorrow
The one who firmly observed myself while shaking hands is me, "Crow from the shadow picture"

Hate, hate, hate hate, one after another
Hate, hate, hate hate, generation after generation

"What if it soothed my pain?" (1)

The crow composes its song

Arises and buds when the snow melts     The flower of icily painful lie
Winter silently slurps tears

THESE hands stopped dying pitch-black easily
I pushed my back and flew away
While plugging your ears, close your eyes, until your voice will be muffled (2)
Embrace...the true meaning of baby's first cry

Hate, hate, hate hate, one after another
Hate, hate, hate hate, generations after generations

"Has the pain been soothed?"

The crow laughs

When the cherry blossom gently sways     The lie from THAT moment scatters around
Spring that looks downward in this pink radiance

The lie still blooms, scatters and withers away     Swaying spirit-shaped buds of words (3)
Branches are what pierces summer into you


Footnotes:

1. The phrase 楽になる [raku ni naru] - to soothe one's pain, to be relieved etc. can be literally translated as to become a melody as well
2. A reference to Japanese sanzaru (pic) - Three Wise Monkeys being a pictorial maxim saying see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil as each monkey is covering eyes, ears and mouth respectively; here sanzaru is a metaphor of a newborn who is not tainted with any kind of evil
3. 言の葉 [kotonoha] means words, but if we consider each compound of this word, we can literally translate it as leaves of words

Discussion:

It's June already! Therefore the full-blown summer is about to come as the very last of spring storms' thunders are going away.

Speaking of four seasons... The ever-changing nature is one of two main motifs of Kagee no karasu. It's also a metaphor of human life and the endless cycle of death and rebirth. From the very beginning, spring is where the nature awakens from its slumber. All about infancy and youth - as the moment where a human is born and follow their path towards adulthood (did you know that youth in Japanese means inter alia 青春 [seishuun] - lit. blue spring?). Adulthood is like summer. The most glamorous moments of youthfulness disappear like the nature itself is rapidly maturing. The next stage is fall - the senility. The nature changes significantly as it gets old, being aware of the further death - upcoming winter (speaking of which, winter and white color in general are a common symbol of death in Japan). As we know, four seasons repeat themselves endlessly, hence the reference to the reincarnation itself.

The second motif is our title crow. In Japan, this bird is said to be the messenger of gods, known in mythology as Yatagarasu - the three-legged, large crow. I mentioned in my Hinamatsuri [R] translation before, that Japanese emperors/empresses are descendants of the Shinto goddess of sun - Amaterasu. Well, Yatagarasu is also associated with guidance and victory, since (according to legends) he was sent to the Earth by Amaterasu to guide her descendant Jimmu (ruling 660 - 585 BC) in his journey to become the first emperor. As that was an obvious thing to me, I found that this mythical, tripedal bird of corvus genus is also said to be a mark of rebirth and rejuvenation. I could not find any evidence to prove that statement, however I think it has something to do with the buddhist figure - Kannon, who  is sometimes presented together with Yatagarasu. Basically, Kannon is often considered a bodhisattva of mercy, pity and compassion. She is also believed to offer her helping hands to souls in their way of transmigration. Moreover, do you know who is often referred to as Kannon as well? Our well known, Shinto goddess Amaterasu herself! This is why I would consider Yatagarasu a mark of rebirth as well.
(note: Kannon comes in both male and female versions, but in Japan the latter is more common)

To sum up, let's merge the crow and four seasons together. Two motifs of reincarnation including the title crow that is the sign of it all.

Ah, I almost forgot to clarify the lie of Kagee no karasu. Well, people prefer to believe that life is supposed to end when they die. But who said it indeed does end? Definitely not our crow.


Afterword:

Woohoo, an off-topic section!

What I wanted to convey as an afterword is that I plan to retranslate Zangetsu, Juusanya and Nochi no koyoi in near future. These three songs form some really messed-up story altogether, which is confirmed (thanks Mahiro, at least you were helpful this time)! I've already deciphered that story while translating it into my native, yet I'd like to present it to you all as well.

All I need is simply more time which isn't certainly in my June schedule. You know, my finals are coming... They are really near...