Japanese Peasant Songs/Appendix 2

by by John F. Embree with Ella Embree and Yukuo Uyehara

Appendix II

Three local songs of other areas which are popular in Kuma are given below. These songs are recognized by the people of Suye as coming from outside Kuma. Other regional songs are also sung from time to time, but the three given here form a fair sample. A stanza of one other non-Kuma provincial song, Iso bushi is given in note 7 to Song 1.

Sado Okesa

Sado is an island off the west coast of Japan and is included in the political boundary of Niigata prefecture. It was at one time a place where important personages were exiled from the capital for various political offenses, and because of this the island and its songs have acquired a certain glamor among the people of Japan, even in the interior of Kyūshū. There are many variations of the songs given here, and women like to dance to them. There is a special melody to accompany the words. The order of stanzas is not fixed. The form is regular dodoitsu.

121	Sado e Sado e to Kusa ki mo nabiku Sado wa iyoi ka Sumi yoika Aja aja aja sate[1]	Toward Sado, toward Sado Even the grass and trees bend.[2] Sado, is it good, Good to live in?[3]
122	Sado e Sado e to Minna yukitagaru Sado wa shijuku ri Nami no ue	Toward Sado, toward Sado Everyone wants to go. To Sado it is forty-nine ri[4] On the waves.
123	Sado to Kashiwazakya Sawo sasha todoku Naze ni todokano Waga omoi	Sado and Kashiwasaki[5] Boat pole if pushed can reach. Why does not reach My heart my thoughts?
124	Sado no Kanayama Konoyo no jigoku Noboru hashigo wa Hari no yama	Sado’s Kanayama[6] Is this world’s hell, Like climbing the steps Of Needle Mountain.[7]
125	Nami no ue demo Kuruki ga areba Funenya do[8] mo ari Kai mo aru	Even with the waves You can come if you wish— Because there are boats And also oars.
126	Odori odoru nara Itanoma de odore Ita no hibiki de Shamya irano	When you dance, dance. Dance on the wooden boards, Dance to the sound of the boards— Samisen we don’t need.
127	Nido to horemai Takoku no hito ni Sue wa karasu no Naki wakare	We never shall love again—[9] People of other place At last like crows[9] Weeping we must part.
128	Sue wa karasu no Naki wakare demo Sōte kurō ga Shitemitai	Like crows Weeping we must part— Together with my love Wish to live and toil.

Tsuki Wa Kasanaru

(The moon is getting full)

This is a song of a pregnant geisha. It is sung in a very drawn-out manner, all vowel sounds being very long. The singer usually wears some red underkimono to represent a geisha. A pillow is stuck inside the kimono for the pregnant belly and the singer’s face is made up as a mask of the Otafuku,^[10] looking very sad.

129a	Tsuki wa kasa naru Onaka wa futori, dōshozoine Onaka wa dōshozoine Toriage baba demo yonde ko ka  Saa-saa S’tetóke hóttoke S’tetóke hóttoke	The moon is getting full[11] The belly is getting bigger, what to do? The belly, what to do? The midwife shall I call? Dear-dear! Let it go, let it go Let it go, let it go.
129b	Dekita sono ko ga Otafuku naraba dōshozoina Otafuku dōshozoina Dokono chōja no kadoguchi ni Saa-saa S’tetóke hóttoke S’tetóke hóttoke	When this child is born, If he looks like Otafuku what shall I do? Looking like Otafuku, what shall I do? At some rich man’s gate.[12] Dear-dear! Let it go, let it go Let it go, let it go.
129c	S’teta sono ko Yaban ga mitsyakya[13] dōshozoino Yaban ga dōshozoino Gonin gumi Saa-saa S’tetóke hóttoke S’tetóke hóttoke	If (I) throw (away) this child, The night watch might find it. The night watch, what will they do? Five people group.[14] Dear-dear! Let it go, let it go Let it go, let it go.

Kagoshima Ohara Bushi

This song of Kagoshima prefecture is very popular in Kuma. Song 9 is a jocular variation of the second stanza. As with the popular Rokuchōshi of Kuma (Songs 1–3) there is a commercial recording of Ohara Bushi (Taihei Gramaphone Co., Ltd., Record 5403).

130	Hana wa Kirishima Tabako wa Kokubu Moete agaru wa Ohara hā Sakurajima Ha, yoi, yoi, yoiyasa to	Flower is Kirishima,[15] Tobacco is Kokubu,[16] That burns and goes up is, Ohara hā, On Sakurajima.[17]
131	Ame no furanu no ni Somutagawa nigoru Ishiki Harara no Ohara hā Keshō no mizu Ha, yoi, yoi, yoiyasa to	Though there is no rain Somuta River is muddy— Of Ishiki Harara,[16] Ohara hā, Bath perfume.
132	Ōte hanaseba Shinjitsu rashii Shian shite mirya Ohara hā Usorashii Ha, yoi, yoi, yoiyasa to	When I meet and talk, It seems believable. When I think, Ohara hā, It seems unbelievable.
133	Nushi no kokoro to Sora fuku kaze wa Doko no izuku de Ohara hā Tomaru yara Ha, yoi, yoi, yoiyasa to	Master’s heart And the wind— Where, Ohara hā, Will they stop?
134	Shin no yofuke ni Washa ne mo yarazu Yogi ni motarete Ohara hā Shinobi naki Ha, yoi, yoi, yoiyasa to	In the middle of the night I cannot sleep— Pressing against the night clothes, Ohara hā, I weep.
135	Okurimashō to Hama made deta ga Nakete saraba ga Ohara hā Iemosenu Ha, yoi, yoi, yoiyasa to	I shall see you off I said And went as far as the beach. But I weep, Ohara hā, And good-bye I cannot say.

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1. ​ This refrain is usually used, and added to each stanza. In Suye ‘aja’ is sometimes pronounced ‘arya.’
2. ​ I.e., even the grass and the trees like Sado.
3. ​ Cf. positive statement of similar idea in Song 118.
4. ​ A measure of distance, 2.4 miles.
5. ​ An island very close to Sado.
6. ​ Kanayama probably refers to the traditionally famous mines of Sado Island where for ages prisoners had been put to hard labor.
7. ​ Needle Mountain is referred to in Buddhist legends.
8. For: ro.
9. According to an old story young crows, when grown up, show their love for their parents by staying and helping them for one hundred days or so before going off on their own. The reference here is to the parting of parent and children crows.
10. A funny roundfaced woman, familiar in Japanese drama.
11. Meaning that the months are piling up.
12. “Shall I leave it?” is understood.
13. For: mitsketa nara.
14. I.e., five people of the night watch.
15. A mountain on the boundary between Kagoshima and Miyazaki prefectures.
16. Place in Kagoshima prefecture.
17. A volcanic isle with an intermittently active volcano.