| ワガクニ | |
 Emblem of Japan | |
| National anthem of | Japan |
|---|---|
| Lyrics | Seiyama Masahi, 1919 |
| Music | Okano Teiichi, 1914 |
| Adopted | 1920 (de facto); 1946 (de jure) |
"Wagakuni" (ワガクニ, "Our Country"), also known as Daiwa Minkoku Kokka (ダイワミンコクコクカ (大和民國國歌), "National Anthem of the Republic of Japan"), is the national anthem of Japan.
History[]
The tune of "Wagakuni" actually come from a song composed by Okano Teiichi and written by Takano Tatsuyuki in 1914 named "Furusato." "Furusato" literally means “Hometown” and its lyrics describe the nostalgic feelings of persons who working distantly from their childhood home. The song was so popular at that time, especially among the urban industrial workers and college students who mainly worked away from their hometowns.
According to some popular accounts, during Nagayama Yoshida's visit to a meeting of Kyoto factory workers' union on May 1919, a group of workers spontaneously sang the song at the close of the meeting. Some of the attendants immediately burst into tears with the singing of "Furusato". Nagayama, who was also present at the meeting, eventually gave a passionate speech to calm the emotional attendants.
During the early days of its establishment, the Republic of Japan did not have any anthem to represent the new government. Many groups, like the leftists and the Christians, used the tune of hymn "O Tannebaum" with different lyrics. The leftist version of the anthem was inspired by song "The Red Flag", also set to the same melody and was called "The Revolutionary Flag" (革命旗; カクメイ ハタ). The Christian version was a religious hymn called "Lord is Omnipotent" (神様ハ全能デアル; カミサマワ ゼンノウデアル). Ironically, some republicans, including the Nationalist Party, used an anthem set to the meldoy of imperial anthem "Kimigayo" for their own occasions.
In September 1919, Nagayama Yoshida asked Seiyama Masahi, a secretary of the Nationalist Party, to write an anthem for the Party that would be set to the tune of "Furusato". The use of "Furusato" tune for the new Party's anthem was Nagayama's personal choice, probably inspired by the spontaneous singing of the song by the group of Kyoto workers he witnessed earlier on May 1919. Seiyama's lyrics describe the beautiful scenery of Japan in general, making the song politically neutral and acceptable to people with different political views. The new anthem then subsequently was called "Wagakuni" after the closing line of the song ("Ama no megumi wagakuni").
On October 12, 1919, the new party anthem was used for the first time at the opening of the new session of the Central Committee of the Japanese Nationalist Party. After its introduction, the new Nationalist anthem quickly gained popularity among the college students, the workers' unions and the Christian community in Kyoto as well as the Japanese Citizen Army for its patriotic tone. The first state ceremonial use of the song was on February 16, 1920 where the military orchestra of the Citizen Army played the song during the ceremony celebrating the first anniversary of the Japanese Republic.
Under the direction of Nakano Seigo, then-Prime Minister of the Republic and the Nationalist propaganda chief, the song became a part of the Republic's education policy. Japanese schoolchildren were taught to sing the song every Monday morning during the flag raising ceremony in order to grow the nationalistic spirit and loyalty toward the Republic among the youth. Similar nationalistic ritual was also taught to non-Japanese students in Korea and the South Pacific.
Lyrics[]
Japanese[]
- Katakana
- ﾔﾏｶﾜﾉ ｳﾂｸｼｻ
ｱｵｷｳﾐ ｶｶﾞﾔｹﾊﾞ
ｶﾗﾌﾄﾄ ﾐﾅﾐｼﾏ
ﾋﾄﾂﾅﾙｶﾞ ｼｷｼﾏ - ﾌｼﾞﾉﾔﾏ ｿﾋﾞｴﾀﾂ
ｵｳｷｸｻｸ ｸﾆﾉﾊﾙ
ﾀｶﾗﾅﾙ ﾌﾐﾉｱﾄ
ﾜﾚﾗｺｿ ｳｹﾂｹﾞﾘ - ｺﾉｸﾆｦ ｱｲｼﾂﾂ
ﾁｭｳｷﾞﾓﾃ ﾏﾓﾗﾅﾑ
ｳｹﾂｷﾞﾇﾉ ｳﾐﾀﾏ
ｱﾏﾉ ﾒｸﾞﾐ ﾜｶﾞｸﾆ
- Hiragana
- やまかわの うつくしさ
あおきうみ かがやけば
からふとと みなみしま
ひとつなるが しきしま - ふじのやま そびえたつ
おうきくさく くにのはる
たからなる ふみのあと
われらこそ うけつげり - このくにを あいしつつ
ちゅうぎもて まもらなむ
うけつぎぬの うみたま
あまの めぐみ わがくに
- Mixed script
- 山川ﾉ美ｼｻ
青ｷ海輝ｹﾊﾞ
樺太ﾄ南島
一ﾂﾅﾙ敷島 - 富士ﾉ山 ｿﾋﾞｴ立ﾂ
櫻菊咲ｸ國ﾉ春
寶ﾅﾙ文ﾉ跡
我ﾗｺｿ受ｹ繼ｹﾞﾘ - ｺﾉ國ｦ愛ｼﾂﾂ
忠義ﾓﾃ守ﾗﾅﾑ
受ｹ繼ｷﾞﾇﾉ海珠
天ノ惠ミ我ガ國
- Transliteration
- Yamakawa no utsukushisa
Aoki umi kagayakeba
Karafuto to minamishima
Hitotsunaruga shikishima - Fujinoyama sobietatsu
Ōkikusaku kuni no haru
Takaranaru fumi no ato
Warera koso uketsugeri - Kono kuni wo aishitsutsu
Chūgimote mamoranamu
Uketsuginu no umitama
Ama no megumi wagakuni
English translation[]
- The beautiful scenery of the mountains and rivers
The blue and clean water of the Pacific
From Karafuto to the South Seas,
It is a great archipelago that became one. - Mount Fuji that always makes me proud
As well as Cherry blossoms and Chrysanthemums
The noble and magnificent cultural heritage
It all belongs to our people. - Let’s give our love to this country every time
Let’s be loyal to this country forever
A big and vast ancestral land, the gem of the ocean
It is the gift from the Heavens: Our country.