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Thumbnail-size images of copyrighted artworks are displayed under fair use, in accordance with guidelines recommended by the Code of Best Practices in Fair Use for the Visual Arts, published by the College Art Association in February 2015.

Song of the Golden Demon ( Konjikiyasha no uta): Theme song from the Nikkatsu movie Sequel to the Golden Demon (Nikkatsu eiga Zoku Konjikiyasha shudaika)


Victor Harmonica Music Sheet (Vikutȃ hȃmonika gakufu) No.2
金色夜叉の歌
Designer: Saitō Kazō (Japanese, 1887 – 1955)
Composer: Nakayama Shinpei (Japanese, 1887 – 1952)
Arranger: Satō Tokitarō (Japanese, dates unknown)
Arranger: Matsuhara Chikashi (Japanese, born in 1905)
Lyricist: Nagata Mikihiko (Japanese, 1887 – 1964)
Publisher: Bikutā shuppansha (Japanese)
Japanese
Shôwa era
1930 (Shôwa 5), September, 20

Medium/Technique Color lithograph; ink on paper
Dimensions Height x width: 27 × 18.9 cm (10 5/8 × 7 7/16 in.)
Credit Line Gift of Mary and Robert Levenson
Accession Number2023.1130
NOT ON VIEW
ClassificationsMusical scores

DescriptionTranslation of lyrics from Japanese, by Kuniko and Kendall Brown:
“Losing composure, yet again today,
At the night beach, still standing,
Swaying on the sand, my own shadow,
I’m sad to see it, the sound of the waves,
Alas, that midnight moon of the 17th day.
No use to live, in the real world,
For this body, or rather lose my mind?
On the dark waves, fishing fire,
As went out, heartless, dear memory,
Alas, that midnight moon of the 17th day.
To the word, of gone by parting,
Now, woke up from the delusion,
Stay up late at night with torture of guilt,
Let’s cry (together), plover of Atami,
Alas, that midnight moon of the 17th day.
The wind also would freeze, on the sand hill,
The moon tonight too, bright though,
Regrets will not mend, the end of (my) life,
Let’s stay up all night crying, the plover
Alas, that midnight moon of the 17th day."

Marks marked “S Kazō” at bottom right
ProvenanceBy 2019, Mary and Robert Levenson, Belleair, FL; 2023, gift of Mary and Robert Levenson to the MFA. (Accession Date: December 13, 2023)