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Japan Victor Music Sheet (Nihon Bikutȃ gakufu) No. 20
巡航船の唄：潮の逢瀬
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Song of the River Cruiser: Rendezvous of Tides (Junkôsen no uta, Ushio no ôse)
Japan Victor Music Sheet (Nihon Bikutȃ gakufu) No. 20
巡航船の唄：潮の逢瀬
Designer: Saitō Kazō (Japanese, 1887 – 1955)
Composer: Shiojiri Seihachi (Japanese, dates unknown)
Lyricist: Shigure Otowa (Japanese, 1899 – 1980)
Publisher: Bikutā shuppansha (Japanese)
Composer: Shiojiri Seihachi (Japanese, dates unknown)
Lyricist: Shigure Otowa (Japanese, 1899 – 1980)
Publisher: Bikutā shuppansha (Japanese)
Japanese
Shôwa era
1929 (Shôwa 4), July 25
Medium/Technique
Color lithograph; ink on paper
Dimensions
Height x width: 31 × 22.7 cm (12 3/16 × 8 15/16 in.)
Credit Line
Gift of Mary and Robert Levenson
Accession Number2023.1171
NOT ON VIEW
ClassificationsMusical scores
DescriptionTranslation of lyrics from Japanese, by Kuniko and Kendall Brown:
"Sunny Osaka, tonight it’s the south
The comb falls, a side-comb,
Excuse me, the river cruiser
Will leave soon, leave soon.
The tides’ rendezvous, stopped by a dam
A Sonezaki of love, what shall we do? *
Excuse me, the river cruiser
Will leave soon, leave soon.
In hand 10,000 ryō, for Dōjima?**
Flowers bloom, bloom, at Nakanoshima,
Excuse me, the river cruiser
Will leave soon, leave soon.
One hundred bridges, ninety-nine passed
The remaining one, the bridge of love,
Excuse me, the river cruiser
Is rolling, is rolling.
Lost in thought, we cross under Yotsubashi
A stylish middle-aged woman, on my mind,
Excuse me, the river cruiser
Is turning, is turning.
At sweetfish tea house, a sleeve-swinging pine***
Lives by seeing that, the incoming current is met,
Excuse me, the river cruiser
Is stopping, is stopping."
* refers to the lovers’ suicide in Love Suicide at Sonezaki
** the rice exchange where fortunes are lost or won
*** the pine is presumably a geisha
"Sunny Osaka, tonight it’s the south
The comb falls, a side-comb,
Excuse me, the river cruiser
Will leave soon, leave soon.
The tides’ rendezvous, stopped by a dam
A Sonezaki of love, what shall we do? *
Excuse me, the river cruiser
Will leave soon, leave soon.
In hand 10,000 ryō, for Dōjima?**
Flowers bloom, bloom, at Nakanoshima,
Excuse me, the river cruiser
Will leave soon, leave soon.
One hundred bridges, ninety-nine passed
The remaining one, the bridge of love,
Excuse me, the river cruiser
Is rolling, is rolling.
Lost in thought, we cross under Yotsubashi
A stylish middle-aged woman, on my mind,
Excuse me, the river cruiser
Is turning, is turning.
At sweetfish tea house, a sleeve-swinging pine***
Lives by seeing that, the incoming current is met,
Excuse me, the river cruiser
Is stopping, is stopping."
* refers to the lovers’ suicide in Love Suicide at Sonezaki
** the rice exchange where fortunes are lost or won
*** the pine is presumably a geisha
Marks
“S Kazō” at lower right
ProvenanceBy 2019, Mary and Robert Levenson, Belleair, FL; 2023, gift of Mary and Robert Levenson to the MFA. (Accession Date: December 13, 2023)