Score of "Sakura"
Score of "Sakura"

"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.

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[1] (nominally A 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 (similar to the Shakuhachi).[2] 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.[3]

Lyrics

The original lyrics[4] 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.[5] However, there are various theories about the original lyrics. According to one theory, it is said that "Sakura Sakura" is a parody of "Saita sakura".[6] "Saita sakura" is thought to have been made as a Japanese koto song in during the Edo period. (Lyrics: さいた桜　花見て戻る　吉野は桜　龍田は紅葉　唐崎の松　常盤常盤　深みどり)[7][8]

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[5]

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[4]

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[5]

sakura sakura
yayoi no sora wa
mi-watasu kagiri
kasumi ka kumo ka
nioi zo izuru
izaya izaya
mini yukan[4]

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.

  • 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).
  • In the Punch-Out!! games, an instrumental rendition is used for Piston Hondo's opening theme.[9][10]
  • Japanese band BUCK-TICK used this melody in live versions of their "Victims of Love" song in the early 1990s.
  • Alfred Reed's Fifth Symphony "Sakura" (1994) is based on this folk song.
  • British cellist Julian Lloyd Webber and French pianist Jason Kouchak recorded Sakura on Lloyd's album Cello Moods (1998) and presented by Olympic ice skater Yuka Sato in 1999. Kouchak performed his interpretation of Sakura at the Kobe earthquake charity event in 1995 and for Emperor Akihito at London's Victoria and Albert Museum in 1998.
  • In 2003, Ōta Jun'ya composed "Sakura, Sakura ~ Japanize Dream" as part of the credits theme for the video game Perfect Cherry Blossom.[11]
  • 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 the early 2010s, Japanese singer Kiyoshi Hikawa performed the second of the two verses of "Sakura Sakura" - the first and (so far) only Enka singer to do so.
  • 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.
  • Babymetal used this melody in their song "Megitsune" (2013).
  • In 2013, Marc Edwards recorded an album featuring three 20-minute versions of "Sakura Sakura", in a free jazz electric guitar style.[12][13][14]
  • Many electronic crosswalks in Japan play the melody as "guidance music".
  • Headhunterz sampled part of this song for his song "Path of the Hunter" (2017).
  • 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.[15] 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.[16]
  • The song appears in the soundtrack of the video game Total War: Shogun 2, playing during the game's campaign map mode.
  • Flutist Jean-Pierre Rampal and harpist Lily Laskine recorded a version for their album Japanese Melodies for Flute and Harp.
  • Sakura-Variationen (Sakura Variations) is a 2000 trio composition scored for saxophone, piano, and percussion by Helmut Lachenmann.
  • "Sakura Sakura" appeared on Wii Music as one of the song selections in the Jam Mode.
  • In the Tokyo area, each train station has its own distinctive jingle used to signal train departures. The jingles for the Komagome and Musashi-Koganei stations are both based on "Sakura Sakura".
  • Hololive Production virtual youtuber Akai Haato used this melody in a scary version of the song, jokingly talking about herself.
  • In the video game Genshin Impact, the background song of the Archon of Inazuma (a region inspired by Japan) uses a musical arrangement inspired by this song.
  • Canis Canem Edit uses a melody based on Sakura Sakura for the ConSumo minigame.

References

  1. ↑ Lower-case letters are an octave higher; see Helmholtz notation.
  2. ↑ Clint Goss (2011). "Sakura Sakura". Flutopedia.com. Sheet music for the Native American Flute. Archived from the original on 2019-02-14. Retrieved 2011-10-10.
  3. ↑ Tsuge Gen'ichi (2016). "Sakura". komuso.com. International Shakuhachi Society. Archived from the original on 2012-04-15. Retrieved 2011-12-27. who cites

    Ongaku Torishirabe-gakari (arr.) (1888). "桜 Sakura". In 東京音楽学校編 Tōkyō ongaku gakkō hen [Tokyo Academy of Music] (ed.). 「箏曲集」 Sōkyokushū [Collection of Koto Music]. Vol. 1. Tokyo, Japan.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  4. 1 2 3 東京音楽学校編 Tōkyō ongaku gakkō hen [Tokyo Academy of Music], ed. (1888). 「箏曲集」 Sōkyokushū [Collection of Koto Music]. Tokyo, Japan.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  5. 1 2 3 東京音楽学校編 Tōkyō ongaku gakkō hen [Tokyo Academy of Music], ed. (1941). 「うたのほん 教師用 下」 Uta no hon, kyōiku-yō, ge [Book of Songs for Educational Use]. Vol. 2. Tokyo, Japan: 文部省 Monbushō.
  6. ↑ 藤田圭雄 Fujita tamao (1997). 「日本童謡唱歌大系1」 Nihon dōyō shōka taikei 1 [Compendium of Japanese nursery rhymes 1]. 東京書籍 Tōkyō syoseki.
  7. ↑ 「山田流琴のかがみ」 Yamadaryū kotonokagami [Model of The Yamada school of Koto]. 博信堂出版部 Hakushindō shuppanbu. 1948.
  8. ↑ Yumi Shimada (2002). ""Sakura, Sakura"- a study of its development and popularisation into a school song". Japanese Journal of Music Education Research. Japan Music Education Society. 32 (2): 1–14. doi:10.20614/jjomer.32.2_1.
  9. ↑ "Sakura - Traditional Japanese Song on Koto". LedgerNote. 24 June 2015. Archived from the original on 31 October 2021. Retrieved 31 October 2021.
  10. ↑ Alexander, Kevin (18 June 2013). "8 Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!!-themed boozy punch recipes, knocked out by the country's top mixologists". Thrillist. Archived from the original on 3 December 2021. Retrieved 3 December 2021.
  11. ↑ ScarletFlameFlandre (2012-06-27), PCB Staff Roll Theme: Sakura, Sakura ~ Japanize Dream (Re-Extended), archived from the original on 2021-12-21, retrieved 2017-05-03
  12. ↑ "Sakura Sakura (3 variations) | Marc Edwards". Marcedwards.bandcamp.com. 2013-10-22. Archived from the original on 2013-12-03. Retrieved 2014-07-16.
  13. ↑ Applegate, Grego (2014-04-17). "Gapplegate Guitar and Bass Blog: avant free psychedelic metal jazz rock". Gapplegateguitar.blogspot.com. Archived from the original on 2023-03-18. Retrieved 2014-07-16.
  14. ↑ "DogAndPanda Records". Dogandpanda.com. Archived from the original on 2014-04-18. Retrieved 2014-07-16.
  15. ↑ GameSpot (2012-03-13), Kara - Heavy Rain/Quantic Dream Tech Demo, archived from the original on 2021-12-21, retrieved 2018-06-26
  16. ↑ MooniGaming (2018-06-03), Detroit: Become Human Kara Tech Demo Sakura Easter Egg, retrieved 2018-06-26
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