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Epic Songs No. 2, Music Books Created by Mr. Kitamura
離れ小島
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The Remote Island (Hanare kojima)
Epic Songs No. 2, Music Books Created by Mr. Kitamura
離れ小島
Designer: Artist unknown, Japanese
Composer: Kitamura Sueharu (Japanese, 1872 – 1931)
Lyricist: Kitamura Sueharu (Japanese, 1872 – 1931)
Publisher: Kyōeki shōsha shoten (Japanese)
Composer: Kitamura Sueharu (Japanese, 1872 – 1931)
Lyricist: Kitamura Sueharu (Japanese, 1872 – 1931)
Publisher: Kyōeki shōsha shoten (Japanese)
Japanese
Meiji era
1910 (Meiji 43), April 15, 17th printing; 1st printing 1904 (Meiji 37), October 23
Medium/Technique
Color lithograph; ink on paper
Dimensions
Height x width: 30 × 22.4 cm (11 13/16 × 8 13/16 in.)
Credit Line
Gift of Mary and Robert Levenson
Accession Number2023.1183.1-3
NOT ON VIEW
ClassificationsMusical scores
DescriptionTranslation of lyrics from Japanese, by Kuniko and Kendall Brown:
"(chorus) Is it water, or sky?
In the wide blue sea of endless sky and water,
Many warships are sailing in formation,
They come dignified in appearance
They seem just like hills that shake,
Coughing black smoke, kicking white waves,
Raised on the mast the noble rising sun flag
Fluttering, waving, flashing in the wind.
(solo, in oratory style) In the old Ariake Sea
Sailing out of Sasebo.
(chorus) Sailing the far route in February,
Though spring there’s still a cold offshore wind,
A drifting ship is at the mercy of the waves,
Moonlight hanging on the ‘mast,’
Wild geese too fall onto the ‘deck,’
Having pledged to die at sea,
Their bodies are nothing now,
Brave men on board ship,
Gathered on the upper deck
Listening to voices singing military songs
Joined together in high spirits.
(full chorus, in military song style)
Someone says the enemy’s warships are hard
Someone says that enemy’s fleet id strong,
Loading the Japanese spirit of the Shikishima*
With every artillery shell we fire
There’s no ship that can’t be blown apart,
Loading the fortitude of brave men
With the torpedoes we fire
There’s no ship that cannot be sunk.
Now come the enemy’s ships
If you are strong, come, enemy fleet,
Now come the enemy’s ships
If you are hard, come, enemy fleet,
Let’s have a bit of a formidable battle
The real ability of Japanese men
Must show itself, must show itself
Must show itself to the world.
(oratory) At that moment far out at sea
Looking like a flock of birds are lines of smoke
They are unmistakably the enemy fleet
Now has come the time for looking forward
One in a thousand, rare as Udumbara’s flower.
In an instant smoky soot spreads over the ocean
In a moment smoke and fire obscure the heavens
In such dimness and darkness there is wild battle
(chorus) Just look at dozens of these great beasts
As they move left and right in the space
Between them fly something like gales,
These are water thunder (torpedo) boats
Over there rises a column of water
Over here flows the smoke from fire,
Winds in a fury and waves in a rage
Heaven and earth are so dark
Gazing out there are only white crested waves
(oratory) This is an isolated island in the open sea,
In the rock’s shadow by the dim moonlight,
Strange human figures talking of something
(solo, A) Ah! How gratifying was today’s battle,
Our torpedoes hit their mark,
And successfully sank the enemy flagship.
(solo B) It was satisfactory, my job is done.
(solo A) At that time some of our ships sank,
And what became of our brave men?
(solo B) You and I to this island,
We have thus drifted ashore
(solo A) We are both seriously wounded
(duet A & B) Now together cutting open our bellies
We’ll be demons eternally protecting the country
(solo C) Saying it’s alright, they came close together
Taking each other’s hand in a dying farewell
That direction is the sky of our imperial country
Bow down, bow down
(solo A) Long live the Emperor!
(solo B) Long live the Imperial Navy!
(solo C) The light of the blade flashes on the waves
(solo A) Now together
(solo B) Well then
(solo A) Well then
(duet A & B) Now
(chorus, faintly) The moonlight in the spring haze
The moonlight in the spring haze
On the rocky shore of a remote island
Holding back boundless regret
Only the white waves choke with tears"
"(chorus) Is it water, or sky?
In the wide blue sea of endless sky and water,
Many warships are sailing in formation,
They come dignified in appearance
They seem just like hills that shake,
Coughing black smoke, kicking white waves,
Raised on the mast the noble rising sun flag
Fluttering, waving, flashing in the wind.
(solo, in oratory style) In the old Ariake Sea
Sailing out of Sasebo.
(chorus) Sailing the far route in February,
Though spring there’s still a cold offshore wind,
A drifting ship is at the mercy of the waves,
Moonlight hanging on the ‘mast,’
Wild geese too fall onto the ‘deck,’
Having pledged to die at sea,
Their bodies are nothing now,
Brave men on board ship,
Gathered on the upper deck
Listening to voices singing military songs
Joined together in high spirits.
(full chorus, in military song style)
Someone says the enemy’s warships are hard
Someone says that enemy’s fleet id strong,
Loading the Japanese spirit of the Shikishima*
With every artillery shell we fire
There’s no ship that can’t be blown apart,
Loading the fortitude of brave men
With the torpedoes we fire
There’s no ship that cannot be sunk.
Now come the enemy’s ships
If you are strong, come, enemy fleet,
Now come the enemy’s ships
If you are hard, come, enemy fleet,
Let’s have a bit of a formidable battle
The real ability of Japanese men
Must show itself, must show itself
Must show itself to the world.
(oratory) At that moment far out at sea
Looking like a flock of birds are lines of smoke
They are unmistakably the enemy fleet
Now has come the time for looking forward
One in a thousand, rare as Udumbara’s flower.
In an instant smoky soot spreads over the ocean
In a moment smoke and fire obscure the heavens
In such dimness and darkness there is wild battle
(chorus) Just look at dozens of these great beasts
As they move left and right in the space
Between them fly something like gales,
These are water thunder (torpedo) boats
Over there rises a column of water
Over here flows the smoke from fire,
Winds in a fury and waves in a rage
Heaven and earth are so dark
Gazing out there are only white crested waves
(oratory) This is an isolated island in the open sea,
In the rock’s shadow by the dim moonlight,
Strange human figures talking of something
(solo, A) Ah! How gratifying was today’s battle,
Our torpedoes hit their mark,
And successfully sank the enemy flagship.
(solo B) It was satisfactory, my job is done.
(solo A) At that time some of our ships sank,
And what became of our brave men?
(solo B) You and I to this island,
We have thus drifted ashore
(solo A) We are both seriously wounded
(duet A & B) Now together cutting open our bellies
We’ll be demons eternally protecting the country
(solo C) Saying it’s alright, they came close together
Taking each other’s hand in a dying farewell
That direction is the sky of our imperial country
Bow down, bow down
(solo A) Long live the Emperor!
(solo B) Long live the Imperial Navy!
(solo C) The light of the blade flashes on the waves
(solo A) Now together
(solo B) Well then
(solo A) Well then
(duet A & B) Now
(chorus, faintly) The moonlight in the spring haze
The moonlight in the spring haze
On the rocky shore of a remote island
Holding back boundless regret
Only the white waves choke with tears"
ProvenanceBy 2019, Mary and Robert Levenson, Belleair, FL; 2023, gift of Mary and Robert Levenson to the MFA. (Accession Date: December 13, 2023)