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Paper short abstract:

This paper focuses on the lyrics of “translated” Shoka introduced to Japan after the Meiji Restoration, how the lyrics differed from the original meaning, and what they mean for Japanese people today.

Paper long abstract:

After the Meiji Restoration (1868), music education in Japan was based on Western music. In particular, “honyaku shoka” (lit. "translated shoka) are songs for children which were published in textbooks for elementary school students and laid the foundation for Western music in Japan. They had a great influence on subsequent Japanese popular music. They were mainly Western folk songs sung with Japanese translations. Their origins were diverse, including from the UK, US, France, and Germany.

What is noteworthy is the “translated” Japanese lyrics. Some songs were given completely new meanings. For example, Hotaru No Hikari (The Light of Fireflies) is based on the Scottish folk song Auld Lang Syne. However, “Should auld acquaintance be forgot, and never brought to mind?” became “Hotaru no hikari, mado no yuki” (The light of fireflies, the snow on the window) in the lyrics by Chikai Inagaki. Furthermore, the Japanese version of the fourth chorus is.

Chishima no oku mo, Okinawa mo,

(All over the Kuril and Okinawa islands)

Yashima no uchi no, mamori nari,

(A part of Japan's overall defense)

In other words, Hotaru No Hikari was used as part of Japanese imperialist education. However, today the tune is sung at graduation ceremonies and at the end of NHK’s Red and White Song Contest on New Year's Eve. It has become a very familiar song for the Japanese people, albeit separated from its original meaning.

This paper focuses on the lyrics of various “translated” Shoka, how their lyrics differed from the original meaning, how they were passed down to Japanese children, and what they mean for Japanese people today.