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Iroha Uta

“The Iroha Song”Source: Iroha — the pangram poem (attr. Kūkai, Heian period)Poet: Kūkai
色は匂へど 散りぬるを
我が世誰ぞ 常ならむ
有為の奥山 今日越えて
浅き夢見じ 酔ひもせず
Iro wa nioedo chirinuru o
waga yo tare zo tsune naran
ui no okuyama kyō koete
asaki yume miji ei mo sezu
Colors are fragrant, yet they scatter and fall —
who in this world of ours could last forever?
Today I cross the deep mountains of being;
no more shallow dreams, no more drunken haze.
Heian-period songImpermanence
Iroha Uta jacket art▶

Music Video

ミュージックビデオ

The Story

歌のものがたり

Historical Background

A syllabary song thought to have been composed in the mid-Heian period. In an age when kana script was spreading, it was written with a miraculous structure that uses every kana exactly once, and has been sung and handed down for a thousand years, serving along the way as a writing exercise. Its authorship is attributed to Kūkai, but nothing is known for certain.

The Poet's Heart

What it holds is the Buddhist view of impermanence—said to render into native Japanese the teaching of the Nirvana Sutra that "all things are impermanent." The blossoms that bloom, the colors that glow with fragrance, will all surely fall. It sings that truth not as lament but as a clear, serene resignation.

What We Put into the Lyrics

The lyrics layer the truth that "everything passes" onto what we actually feel today. It is precisely because we know it will scatter that we can live this one moment intensely. Not lamenting impermanence, but accepting a "now" that shines because it is impermanent, and crossing the deep mountains of the transient world to return to one's true self—a story of rebirth.

Lyrics

歌詞
Japanese

咲き誇る花も　いつかは散りゆく

匂い立つ色も　風にさらわれて

この世界に生きる　誰ひとりとして

「常ならむ」もの　持ってはいない

それでも今日　有為の奥山を越えて

ひとつまた　ひとつと

迷いの先へ　歩いてゆく

浅き夢は見じ　もう揺らがない

酔いもせず　まぼろしに惑わされない

散りぬるを　知っているからこそ

この一瞬を　強く生きてゆける

匂へど散る　その色のままに

誰かと交わす　言葉も約束も

形あるものは　いつか姿を変えて

それでも確かに　ここにあった意味を

胸の奥に　刻んでゆこう

今日もまた　有為の奥山を越えて

ひとつまた　ひとつと

本当の自分へ　還ってゆく

色は匂へど　散りぬるを

我が世誰ぞ　常ならむ

有為の奥山　今日越えて

浅き夢見じ　酔ひもせず

浅き夢は見じ　もう惑わない

酔いもせず　うつし世の幻に

散りぬるを　受け入れたその先で

この一瞬が　永遠になる

匂へど散る　その色のままに

English

Even flowers in full bloom will someday fall

Even their fragrant colors are swept away by the wind

No one who lives in this world

holds anything that lasts forever

Yet today, I cross the deep mountains of life

one step, and then another

walking on, beyond my doubts

No more shallow dreams — I will not waver now

Unclouded, undeceived by any illusion

Because I know that all things scatter and fade

I can live this very moment with all my heart

Fragrant, yet falling — just as those colors are

The words and promises we share with someone

all things with form will someday change their shape

Still, the meaning that was surely here

I will carve it deep within my heart

Again today, I cross the deep mountains of life

one step, and then another

returning to my true self

The colors are fragrant, yet they scatter and fall

who in this world of ours could last forever?

The deep mountains of life — today I cross them

no shallow dreams, no drunken haze

No more shallow dreams — I am no longer lost

Unclouded by the illusions of this fleeting world

Beyond the place where I embraced that all things fade

this single moment becomes eternity

Fragrant, yet falling — just as those colors are

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