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OGURA HYAKUNIN ISSHU — POEM No. 15 of 100

Kimi ga Tame

“For You” — Emperor KōkōSource: Kokinshū, Spring I · 21
君がため 春の野に出でて 若菜つむ
わが衣手に 雪は降りつつ
Kimi ga tame haru no no ni idete wakana tsumu
waga koromode ni yuki wa furitsutsu
For your sake I go out to the fields of early spring
to gather young herbs, while snow keeps falling on my sleeves.
Kimi ga Tame 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
Emperor Kōkō, remembered for his warmth, lived modestly for decades before unexpectedly ascending the throne at fifty-five. Long before that, he went out into a snow-covered field to pick spring herbs with his own hands — a traditional gift of health and good fortune — for someone dear: a poem of unadorned care that asks nothing in return. In our song that giving love becomes someone buying the seven spring herbs on a snowy morning to cook rice porridge for a loved one lying sick with a fever.

Lyrics

歌詞
Japanese
Verse 1

春は春でも まだ雪の野辺

霜を踏み分け 籠を提げて

君に効くと 知った若菜を

探すこの手が 凍えていく

Pre-Chorus

身分も冠も 関係ないんだ

ただの「わたし」で 摘んでいたい

Chorus

君がため 春の野に出でて

若菜摘む 袖には雪

冷たさなんて 感じないほど

君の笑顔を 思い浮かべてる

早く元気に なりますように

Verse 2

やがて帝と 呼ばれる人も

この朝だけは 慈しむ人

誰も知らない その優しさは

雪の白さで できていた

Pre-Chorus 2

贈る言葉を 千も持つより

かじかむ指で 摘んだひと束

Chorus 2

君がため 春の野に出でて

若菜摘む 夜明けの色

うれしそうな顔 ひとつ見たくて

冠脱いで 膝を濡らすよ

それを恋と 呼ぶのだろう

Breakdown

君がため 春の野に出でて 若菜つむ

わが衣手に 雪は降りつつ

Verse 3

熱を出した 君のために

朝一番の 市場を歩く

七草がゆの 作り方を

電話で母に 聞いたりして

Pre-Chorus

不器用だって 笑われたって

できることを したいだけ

Chorus

君のため 雪の朝に

買った七草 抱えて帰る

鍋の湯気で 曇る窓辺で

早く治れと 祈りながら

時を越えても 同じ気持ちで

Bridge

贈り物は 飾りじゃなくて

かけた時間と 濡れた袖

愛のかたちは 変わらないまま

雪の中を 歩いてくる

Final Chorus

君がため 季節はめぐり

若菜の緑 雪の白

あの日の帝も 今日のぼくも

好きな人には 笑顔でいてほしい

ただそれだけで 野に出るんだ

Outro

雪は降りつつ……

雪は降りつつ……

English

Spring, but still a field of snow

Kicking through frost, basket in hand

Searching for the young herbs said to heal you

This hand of mine is going numb

Rank and crown mean nothing here

Just "me" — that's who I want to be, picking

For your sake I go out into the spring field

Gathering young herbs — snow on my sleeves

The cold doesn't reach me at all

Because I'm picturing your smile

Please, get better soon

The one who will one day be called Emperor

This morning is a man who cherishes another

The kindness no one else will ever see

Was made from the white of the snow

Better than a thousand words of comfort

A single bunch, gathered with numbed fingers

For your sake I go out into the spring field

Gathering young herbs in the color of dawn

Just to see one glimpse of your happy face

I'll take off my crown, wet my knees

That is what they call love, I suppose

For your sake, I went out into the spring field to gather young herbs

And on my sleeves the snow keeps falling

You've caught a fever, so for you

I walk to the market before dawn

The recipe for seven-herb rice porridge

I even called my mother to ask

Even if you laugh at me for being clumsy

I only want to do what I can

For your sake, in the snowy morning

I come home carrying the seven herbs I bought

By the window fogged with steam from the pot

Praying, please just get well soon

Across all these centuries, the same feeling

A gift is not the ornament

But the time you gave, and the wet sleeves

The shape of love hasn't changed at all

Walking through the snow, coming to you

For your sake — seasons turn and turn

The green of young herbs, the white of snow

That day's emperor and today's me

Just want the one we love to keep on smiling

That's all it takes to send me to the field

The snow keeps falling...

The snow keeps falling...

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