“Red Dragonfly” (Original – “AKATOMBO” )
This song is called “Aka-Tombo”, meaning “Red Dragonfly”. This song may well be a song every Japanese, young and old, is familiar with from his/her school days. The song depicts the memory of tender loving days from one’s childhood, especially for those who were brought up and taught in local districts, before those places, too, became urbanized with concrete buildings and highways as the economy developed and advanced. There were rivers and dells, and hills and dunes, and woods and trees, all untouched by industries, and all those little animals and flowers and fruits were near around, not like today when you can have a chance of getting access to them only at zoos, man-made gardens and supermarkets. “Akatombo”, or red dragonfly, was particularly near at hand when you were small and growing up in the countryside, and Mr. Rofu Miki, a poet from a small town, Tatsuno, in Hyogo Pref., in western Japan, wrote a poem which incites kind nostalgia of bygone days, and Mr. Kosaku Yamada, impressed by the heart-warming lyrics, gave a tune to it. The song was born in the early part of 20th century, and it is still taught at school and sung by many children and adults alike. I gave the song English lyrics in my hope of relaying even a faint atmosphere of old Japan in its simplest and purest environments that existed - relaying to people living overseas, but having curiosity of seeing a true and traditional Japan that it was. In the third stanza of the song in its original Japanese lyrics, such a phrase appears as “juugode neeyawa yomeniyuki…” which literally translates and depicts broadly to “our maid quit the job and went back to her home village at the age of fifteen to marry a marriage arranged by her family”. The Japanese phrase “juugode…” is a very short one, but contains that much of meaning which has to be said to explain the historical social background of that time. I hear that the government (education ministry) at the time did not like this part appearing publicly, and they ordered it to be cut out from the song. Well, that was Japan at the time, but the song, with its beautiful melody, evokes a lot of tender feeling in your heart, I think.
森山愛子 - 赤とんぼ / Moriyama Aiko - AkaTombo (with lyrics & translation)
Enka singer Moriyama Aiko singing a part of the Enka (traditional Japanese ballad) song AkaTombo.
I'm really sorry about the translation, I did my best but, first it's really hard to translate Japanese songs in general, and moreover this Enka song, and second, English is not my mother tongue... It's literal translation so that you can get the meaning of the song.
The nursery song called Akatombo, meaning Red Dragonfly, has been sung for many generations. The words of this song were written by a famous poet, Miki Rofu (1889-1964), when he was working at a monastery in Hokkaido. The words express his nostalgia and affection for his mother, childhood and faraway hometown, Tatsuno. The song appeared in the nursery song book, Shinjujima (A Pearl Island) in 1921, and it was set to music by Yamada Kosaku, a famous composer, in 1927.
Rofu's parents were divorced, because of his father's waywardness, when Rofu was young, and he was brought up by his grandfather. This nation's beloved song, Akatombo, was born from Rofu's nostalgic thoughts about his distant mother and home.
In Tatsuno, Akatombo is considered the origin of the city's cultural character, and on October 7, 1984, Tatsuno city declared itself The Hometown of Nursery Songs. Through nursery songs, the city has endeavored to nurture feelings and creativity, with the wish that children can grow up healthy and optimistic. The Japan Nursery Song Festival, an educational and cultural event, has been organized in cooperation with the Japan Nursery Song Association and other music bodies, and it was held for the thirteenth time this year.