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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.

Military Song: Beloved Horse Marching Song (Gunka: Aiba shingunka) and Folk Song: Beloved Horse March (Riyô: Aibakô)

Japanese
Shôwa era
1939 (Shôwa 14), February

Medium/Technique Color lithograph; ink on paper
Dimensions Height x width: 27.6 × 19.1 cm (10 7/8 × 7 1/2 in.)
Credit Line Gift of Mary and Robert Levenson
Accession Number2023.1197
NOT ON VIEW
ClassificationsMusical scores

DescriptionTranslation of lyrics from Japanese, by Kuniko and Kendall Brown:
"Going and advancing, the evening sky is far
Bivouacing again today, in a snowy field
Blue, I’m begging you, tonight’s dream too
Me and you, and the Hinomaru flag.
Bullets are no use, a 1000-stitch belt
Worn on my chest, so I’m invincible
Blue, I’m counting on you, from now on too
Me and you, and the Hinomaru flag.
Still in the mud, now one more effort
That thin light, is the enemy camp
Blue, I’m counting on you, the first to arrive is
Me and you, and the Hinomaru flag.
Burdened, burdened, we made it here
Finally (we) have occupied, banzai
Blue, neigh, neigh, I’ll cry too
Banzai, banzai, the Hinomaru flag."
Signed Hide
Marks "hide" ? 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)