Sakura Sakura

Introduction

"Sakura Sakura" (さくら さくら, "Cherry blossoms, cherry blossoms"), also known as "Sakura", is a traditional Japanese folk song depicting spring, the season of cherry blossoms. It is often sung in international settings as a song representative of Japan.

Contrary to popular belief, the song did not originate in ancient times; it was a popular, urban melody of the Edo period.

Melody

The "Sakura Sakura" melody has been popular since the Meiji period, and the lyrics in their present form were attached then. The tune uses a pentatonic scale known as the In scale, or in modern Western music theory, the fifth mode of the harmonic minor scale.

Expressed as diatonic notes in the major scale, the In scale is 3, 4, 6, 7, 8 (1), 10 (3); or the notes E F^♮ A B c e (nominally E minor); or in solfège Mi Fa La Ti Do Mi. The melodic scale can either be represented in older Western musical theory by the Phrygian minor or the Phrygian major mode, with the 3rd and 7th notes in the scale omitted.

Because the melody spans a modest range, it is ideally suited to instruments that have a limited pitch range, such as the Native American flute (silmilar to the Shakuhachi). The melody arranged by Ongaku Torishirabe-gakari was included in Collection of Japanese Koto Music issued in 1888, for beginning koto students in the Tokyo Academy of Music.

Lyrics

The original lyrics are listed as the second verse in the table below. In 1941, the Ministry of Education published a new verse in Uta no hon (うたのほん 教師用 下) which was listed first, with the original verse listed second.

In popular culture

The first lines of the original verse ('sakura sakura yayoi no sora wa mi-watasu kagiri') serve as a prelude to Bon Jovi's song "Tokyo Road" from their second album 7800° Fahrenheit (released in 1985).

Kidsongs uses its own version of "Sakura" for I Like To Teach The World To Sing.

Alfred Reed's 1994 Fifth Symphony "Sakura" is based on this folk song.

In 2003, Ohta Jun'ya composed "Sakura, Sakura ~ Japanize Dream" as part of the credits theme for the video game Perfect Cherry Blossom.

Dream of the Cherry Blossoms by Keiko Abe, a virtuoso percussionist, is a five-minute piece for marimba that is based on "Sakura Sakura" that has become popular in the marimba repertoire.

In 2007, it was selected for Nihon no Uta Hyakusen, a collection of songs and nursery rhymes widely beloved in Japan.

In early the 2010s, Japanese singer Kiyoshi Hikawa performed the second of the two verses of "Sakura Sakura" - the first and only Enka singer to do so.^{[citation needed]}

Yukihiro Yoko, a classical guitarist, made an arrangement for his instrument, a theme with variations, in which he uses different guitar techniques to imitate the sound of the koto.^{[citation needed]}

Babymetal used this melody in their song "Megitsune" in 2013.

In 2013 Marc Edwards recorded an album featuring three 20 minute versions of "Sakura Sakura", in a free jazz electric guitar style.

Many electronic crosswalks in Japan play the melody as "guidance music".

Headhunterz sampled part of this song for his 2017 song "Path of the Hunter".

In Kara, a short film/tech demo created by David Cage and his company Quantic Dream about a robot who is built to serve humanity, the robot is asked to "sing something in Japanese", after which she sings this song.^[10] Eventually, this short film was adapted into a video game, Detroit: Become Human. In the game, one of the main characters, Markus - an android, is trying to put himself together in a junkyard. This references the short film when Markus stumbles upon a dying Kara model, the one from the film, that is still singing the song.^[11]

The song appears in the soundtrack of the video game Total War: Shogun 2, playing during the game's campaign map mode.

The first fourteen notes plays as Piston Hondo's intro theme in some of the Punch-Out!! games.

Lyrics

中译

樱花呀 樱花呀

深山与乡里间

就我所能看到的范围内

那是霞，还是云？

朝日下弥漫香气

樱花呀 樱花呀

正盛开着

樱花呀 樱花呀

三月的天空下

就我所能看到的范围内

那是霞，还是云？

空气中弥漫香气

走吧 走吧

去看看她

The original lyrics are listed as the second verse in the table below. In 1941, the Ministry of Education published a new verse in Uta no hon (うたのほん 教師用 下) which was listed first, with the original verse listed second.

Standard	Hiragana	Romaji	Translation
桜　桜 野山も里も 見渡す限り 霞か雲か 朝日に匂う 桜　桜 花ざかり   桜　桜 弥生の空は 見渡す限り 霞か雲か 匂いぞ　出ずる いざや　いざや 見に行かん	さくら　さくら のやま　も　さと　も みわたす　かぎり かすみ　か　くも　か あさひ　に　におう さくら　さくら はな　ざかり   さくら　さくら やよい　の　そら　は みわたす　かぎり かすみ　か　くも　か におい　ぞ　いずる いざや　いざや みに　ゆかん	sakura sakura noyama mo sato mo mi-watasu kagiri kasumi ka kumo ka asahi ni niou sakura sakura hana zakari   sakura sakura yayoi no sora wa mi-watasu kagiri kasumi ka kumo ka nioi zo izuru izaya izaya mini yukan	Cherry blossoms, cherry blossoms, In fields, mountains and villages As far as the eye can see. Is it mist, or clouds? Fragrant in the rising sun. Cherry blossoms, cherry blossoms, Flowers in full bloom.   Cherry blossoms, cherry blossoms, Across the spring sky, As far as the eye can see. Is it mist, or clouds? Fragrant in the air. Come now, come now, Let's go and see them!