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Hyakunin Isshu No. 6 · Chūnagon Yakamochi (Ōtomo no Yakamochi)Kasasagi no

“Frost on the Magpie Bridge” — Chūnagon Yakamochi (Ōtomo no Yakamochi)Source: Shin Kokin Wakashū, Winter · 620
かささぎの 渡せる橋に 置く霜の
白きを見れば 夜ぞ更けにける
Kasasagi no wataseru hashi ni oku shimo no
shiroki o mireba yo zo fuke ni keru
On the bridge the magpies spread across the sky, the frost lies white —
seeing its whiteness, I know the night has grown deep.
Hyakunin IsshuShin Kokin WakashūWinterAdmirationLonelinessThe imperial palace (the magpie bridge of the palace stairs)
Kasasagi no jacket art

What the poem says

The bridge the magpies are said to spread across the River of Heaven — seeing the white frost settled on the palace stairs, I know the night has grown very late.

Music Video

ミュージックビデオ
MUSIC VIDEO — COMING SOON

The Story

歌のものがたり

Historical Background

Chūnagon Yakamochi — Ōtomo no Yakamochi — was a poet of the Nara period, said to be the one who gave the Man'yōshū's twenty books their present form. Born into the great Ōtomo clan, he went north to serve as governor of Etchū, and died late in life in Mutsu; his was also a life spent watching his clan pushed aside in one political struggle after another. Yet this poem appears nowhere in the Man'yōshū. It stands in the winter book of the Shin Kokin Wakashū under the name 'Chūnagon Yakamochi', so it is likely that later generations entrusted it to him as a poem worthy of his name. The poem borrows the Tanabata legend: once a year, magpies line up their wings and build a bridge across the River of Heaven — and on that bridge, frost is lying. Tanabata belongs to summer and early autumn, but frost belongs to winter. The two seasons stay layered, and neither breaks the other. There is also an old reading in which the steps of the imperial palace are likened to the 'bridge of heaven', so whether this is a bridge in the sky or the one before the poet's eyes is never settled.

The Poet's Heart

At night, he sees frost lying on the bridge. It is white. And seeing it, he realizes how late the night has grown — that is all the poem says. It does not say cold, or beautiful, or lonely. What it holds is only the movement of the eyes in 'seeing its whiteness', and the realization in 'the night has grown deep'. He learns that time has passed from the whiteness of frost. People sometimes know the hour not from a clock but from something like this. And the birds said to have built the bridge are no longer there. Only the shape of the bridge remains, in white.

What We Put into the Lyrics

What drew us to this poem is that it says time has passed with nothing more than 'the frost is white'. So in the lyrics, too, we never explain the passing of time; we draw it only with the eyes and the hands. A footbridge over the tracks after the last train, the prints of fingers left on the rail, our own footsteps following a moment behind. In the chorus, 'I look down' comes twice, so that the instant he looks down at the white frost at his feet is the instant he knows how deep the night is. Then the original poem follows: first the realization in today's words, then the landing in words a thousand years old. The other thing we wanted to draw was that the birds who built the bridge are gone. On the night of Tanabata, magpies lined up their wings to bridge the River of Heaven. In place of those wings, frost now spans the bridge, and each grain of it shines like a white feather. Laying white wings over white frost is, we believe, the heart of this poem's imagery. The bridge crossed so many times without knowing its name — by the end, its name is known. A winter bridge crossed alone comes to overlap with the once-a-year bridge of Tanabata, and there the song ends.

Lyrics

歌詞
Japanese

かささぎの（新古今集/中納言家持・百人一首6番）Garu JP

Intro

かささぎの 渡せる橋に 置く霜の

白きを見れば 夜ぞ更けにける

Verse 1

終電のあと 線路をまたぐ橋 手すりに置いた 指のあとが残る

街の灯りが 下を流れてく 渡りきるまで 誰にも会わない

上を見れば 星が近い

Pre-Chorus

橋の名を 知らないまま

何度も ここを渡ってきた

足音が 遅れて ついてくる

橋の真ん中で 足を止める

Chorus

目を落としたら

霜が白くて

目を落としたら

夜がふけていた

かささぎの 渡せる橋に 置く霜の

白きを見れば 夜ぞ更けにける

Verse 2

下を 回送電車が 過ぎていく

遠くの窓が ひとつずつ 消えていく

手すりの上に 霜が白い

息を吐けば 雲になる

夜が ふけていく

Pre-Chorus 2

年に一度だけ 翼をならべて

鳥が架けた 天の川の橋

夏のはずの その橋に

いま 霜が置いている

Chorus 2

目を落としたら 霜が白くて

目を落としたら 夜がふけていた

Bridge

翼はもう ここにはない

橋のかたちだけが 残っている

翼のかわり 霜が架かる

羽根のひとつずつが 白く光る

ひとりで この橋を 今夜も渡る

橋の名を 今は 知っている

Breakdown

目を落としたら

霜が白くて

目を落としたら

夜がふけていた

Final Chorus

かささぎの 渡せる橋に 置く霜の

白きを見れば 夜ぞ更けにける

白いところに 手を置いたまま

気づけば 夜が ふけていた

霜の羽根の 橋の上で

夜が ふけていた

English

On the bridge the magpies spread across the sky, the frost lies white —

seeing its whiteness, I know the night has grown deep

After the last train, a bridge across the tracks; the prints of my fingers stay on the rail

The city lights flow by below; no one passes me until I reach the other side

Look up, and the stars are close

Not knowing the name of this bridge

I have crossed it so many times

My footsteps follow a moment behind

In the middle of the bridge, I stop

I look down

and the frost is white

I look down

and the night has grown deep

On the bridge the magpies spread across the sky, the frost lies white —

seeing its whiteness, I know the night has grown deep

Below me, an empty train passes by

Far-off windows go dark, one by one

On the rail, the frost is white

I breathe out, and it turns into a cloud

The night grows deeper

Once a year, wing beside wing,

the birds built a bridge across the River of Heaven

On that bridge, meant for summer,

frost is lying now

I look down, and the frost is white

I look down, and the night has grown deep

The wings are no longer here

Only the shape of the bridge remains

In place of the wings, the frost spans the gap

each of its feathers shining white

Alone, I cross this bridge again tonight

Now I know its name

I look down

and the frost is white

I look down

and the night has grown deep

On the bridge the magpies spread across the sky, the frost lies white —

seeing its whiteness, I know the night has grown deep

My hand still resting on the white

I realize the night has grown deep

On a bridge of frost feathers

the night has grown deep

Kasasagi no (Shin Kokin-shu / Chunagon Yakamochi, Hyakunin Isshu No. 6) Garu JP

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