yatipokö nö
kamï nö mikötö pa
nuyekusa nö
me ni si areba
wa ga kökörö
urasu nö töri zo
ima kösö pa
wadöri ni aramë
nöti pa
nadöri ni aramu wo
inöti pa
na sisetamapi sö
isitapu ya
amepasedukapi
kötö nö
Katarigötö mö
kö wo ba
awoyama ni
pi ga kakuraba nubatama nö
yo pa idenamu
asapi nö
wemisakayekite
takudunö
siroki tadamuki
awayuki no
wakayaru mune wo
södataki
tataki managari
ma tamade
tamade sasimaki
momonaga ni
i pa nasamu wo
aya ni
na kopïkikösi
yatipokö nö
kamï nö mikötö
kötö nö
katarigötö mö
kö wo ba
Eight Thousand Spears,
Mighty God,
A delicate
Maid am I.
My heart
Is a bird upon the seashore
Now,
It flies for me
Later,
It may fly for you.
My heart’s life
Do not end it!
Though it be a rowdy
Messenger of the skies.
The words,
The spoken words
Are like this.
In the mountains green,
When the sun lies hidden,
Lily-seed dark
Night will arise.
As the morning sun
Come smiling to me;
With mulberry-cloth
White arms
The melting snow
Of my youthful breast
Enfold.
Entwining, gazing:
Pure jewelled hand
Pillowed upon hand
Forever
Let us sleep.
And so
Put aside your longing,
Eight Thousand Spears,
Mighty God.
The words,
The spoken words,
Are like this.
The final three lines betray the song’s oral origins, most likely being a formula spoken/sung by the reciter to assert that this was the form in which the song had been handed down to them.
White’s Ground Thrush (Turdus dauma) is a bird of the sparrow family somewhat larger than a common thrush. It has a yellowish-brown back and a whitish speckled belly. A migratory bird, it lives in Japan’s mountain forests in summer and its call is still considered to be particularly plaintive and mournful.
This deity is associated with Izumo and appears extensively in early mythology. It seems likely that he was the central figure of an Izumo-based religious system, which was later absorbed into, and subordinated to, the sun-based mythology of the Imperial clan.
A sequence of songs concerning the exploits of the deity Yachihoko, or Eight Thousand Spears, also known as Ōkuninushi, the Great Land Master. The first two songs describe his wooing of Princess Nunakawa, and her reply:
yatipokö nö
kamï nö mikötö pa
yasimakuni
tuma makikanete
töpotöposi
kosi nö kuni ni
sakasime wo
ari tö kikasite
kupasime wo
ari tö kikosite
sayobapi ni
aritatasi
yobapi ni
arikayopase
tati ga wo mö
imada tökazute
ösupi wo mö
imada tökaneba
wotöme nö
nasu ya itato wo
ösuburapi
wa ka tatasereba
piködurapi
wa ka tatasereba
awoyama ni
nuye pa nakinu
sa no tu töri
kigisi pa töyömu
nipa tu töri
kake pa naku
uretaku mö
nakunaru töri ka
könö töri mö
utiyamekösene
isitapu ya
amepasedukapi
kötö nö
katarigötö mö
kö wo ba
Eight Thousand Spears,
The mighty god,
In the Eightfold Island land
Could not take a wife.
Afar, afar
In the land of Koshi
A clever maiden
Lived, he heard;
A most singular maiden
Lived there, he heard.
A’courting
Did he go.
Courting
Back and forth.
His sword belt
Not undone,
His cloak, too,
Not unfastened,
At the maiden’s
Door, wherein she slept,
He hammers,
‘While I’ve stood here
Knocking over and over,
While I’ve stood here,
In the mountains green,
The ground thrush has sung;
The birds of the fields,
The pheasants are calling;
The bird of the garden,
The cockerel, crows.
Sad it might be but,
You calling birds
You birds you,
I wish you’d stop,
You rowdy
Messengers of the skies!’ The words,
The spoken words
Are like this.
The Beacon Warders were stationed in the provinces and were charged with lighting beacons in the case of a military emergency. As a result they came under the ultimate authority of the Ministry of War.