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OGURA HYAKUNIN ISSHU — POEM No. 10 of 100

Kore ya Kono

“So This Is the Place” — SemimaruSource: Gosenshū, Miscellaneous I · 1089
これやこの 行くも帰るも 別れては
知るも知らぬも 逢坂の関
Kore ya kono yuku mo kaeru mo wakarete wa
shiru mo shiranu mo Ōsaka no seki
So this is the place: those going, those returning, parting here —
friends and strangers alike, at the Barrier of Meeting Hill.
Kore ya Kono jacket art

Music Video

ミュージックビデオ
MUSIC VIDEO — COMING SOON

The Story

歌のものがたり
Semimaru was a blind biwa player said to have lived beside the Ōsaka Barrier, the great checkpoint every traveler between the capital and the east had to pass. Listening to countless footsteps, he heard the whole human world in miniature — partings and meetings, strangers and friends, endlessly circulating — and accepted it with a calm that borders on humor. Our song sets his barrier gate in a modern morning station, where the same river of people still flows past the ticket gates.

Lyrics

歌詞
Japanese
Verse 1

朝の改札 人の川

発車メロディが 途切れずに鳴る

笛の合図で 扉が閉まる

今日もはじまる 小さな旅たち

Pre-Chorus

顔も知らない 誰かと肩が

触れて離れて それきりの朝

Chorus

これやこの 行くも帰るも

別れては また巡り会う

知るも知らぬも すれ違ってく

ここはさながら 逢坂の関

今日も誰かが 旅立っていく

Verse 2

三月の風 片道のチケット

握りしめて 乗り込んだ列車

ホームで手を振る 母の姿

動き出す窓の外 小さくなってく

Pre-Chorus

泣き顔ひとつ 見せない父が

ホームのすみで 肩を震わせた

Chorus

これやこの 行くも帰るも

切符一枚 握りしめて

知るも知らぬも 同じ扉を

くぐって人生 乗り換えていく

ここはさながら 逢坂の関

Bridge

千年前 峠の関所に

琵琶を鳴らす 盲目の歌人

行き交う足音 聞き分けながら

人の世の全部を 歌にした

目を閉じれば 僕にも聞こえる

あの日の雑踏 今日の雑踏

Breakdown

これやこの 行くも帰るも 別れては

知るも知らぬも 逢坂の関

Verse 3

始発の駅前 やさしい風

改札へ消える 息子の背中

同じ屋根の下 すれ違うだけの

日々のぶんまで 肩が震えた

Pre-Chorus

誰もがそれぞれの 物語のなかで

明日への扉を また開けていく

Final Chorus

これやこの 行くも帰るも

別れの数だけ 人はやさしい

知るも知らぬも みんな旅人

だから巡り会えた 奇跡を歌う

ここはさながら 逢坂の関

また会う日まで 無事を祈って

Outro

逢坂の関……

逢坂の関……

English

Morning ticket gates, a river of people

Departure melodies ringing without pause

At the whistle's signal the doors slide shut

Today again, small journeys begin

A stranger's shoulder brushes mine

Touching, parting — a morning that ends there

Here it is: those who go and those who return

Parting only to meet again

Known and unknown, passing each other by

This place is truly the Gate of Meeting Hill

Today again, someone sets out on a journey

March wind, a one-way ticket

Clutched tight as I boarded the train

My mother waving on the platform

Growing smaller past the moving window

My father, who never showed a tear

Stood in the corner, shoulders trembling

Here it is: those who go and those who return

Clutching a single ticket

Known and unknown, through the same doors

We pass, transferring from life to life

This place is truly the Gate of Meeting Hill

A thousand years ago, at a mountain checkpoint

A blind poet played his biwa

Listening to the footsteps come and go

He turned the whole human world into song

When I close my eyes, I can hear it too

The crowds of that day, the crowds of today

Here it is: those who go and those who return, parting

Known and unknown — the Gate of Meeting Hill

A gentle wind before the first-train station

My son's back disappearing through the gates

Under one roof, we only passed each other

My shoulders trembled for all those days as well

Everyone, inside their own story

Opens the door to tomorrow once again

Here it is: those who go and those who return

People grow kinder with every parting

Known and unknown, we are all travelers

So I sing the miracle that we ever met

This place is truly the Gate of Meeting Hill

Praying you travel safe, until we meet again

The Gate of Meeting Hill...

The Gate of Meeting Hill...

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