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OGURA HYAKUNIN ISSHU — POEM No. 17 of 100

Chihayaburu

“Unheard of, Even in the Age of Gods” — Ariwara no NarihiraSource: Kokinshū, Autumn II · 294
ちはやぶる 神代も聞かず 竜田川
からくれなゐに 水くくるとは
Chihayaburu kamiyo mo kikazu Tatsutagawa
karakurenai ni mizu kukuru to wa
Unheard of, even in the mighty age of gods —
the Tatsuta River, tie-dyeing its waters in deep crimson.
Chihayaburu jacket art

Music Video

ミュージックビデオ

The Story

歌のものがたり
Ariwara no Narihira — one of the Six Poetic Geniuses and the model for the hero of the Tales of Ise — praised the maple leaves blanketing the Tatsuta River with the boldest hyperbole in Japanese poetry: not even in the age of the gods was such a sight ever seen. It is often called the greatest autumn-leaf poem in the language. Our song translates that shock of beauty into the modern everyday — the moment you stop in your tracks and realize the world was this vivid all along.

Lyrics

歌詞
Japanese

川面を流れる 無数のもみじ

一片ずつが 燃えるような赤で

水を染めてゆく ゆっくりと

息をするのも 忘れていた

神々が見ていた 遥かな時代も

こんな景色を 知らなかったはず

今 目の前で 奇跡が起きている

ちはやぶる 神代も聞かず

からくれなゐいに 水を染め上げて

竜田川は今 誰のものでもない

ただ美しい ただそれだけで

言葉なんて 追いつかないよ

こんなにも世界は 鮮やかだった

ふと立ち止まる その瞬間に

世界はこんなにも 彩られてた

気づかないまま 通り過ぎてた

たくさんの赤を たくさんの今を

神々が見ていた 遥かな時代も

こんな景色を 知らなかったはず

今 この瞬間が 永久になる

ちはやぶる 神代も聞かず

からくれなゐいに 水を染め上げて

竜田川は今 誰のものでもない

ただ美しい ただそれだけで

言葉なんて 追いつかないよ

こんなにも世界は 鮮やかだった

ちはやぶる

神代も聞かず 竜田川

からくれなゐいに 水くくるとは

ちはやぶる 神代も聞かず

からくれなゐに 水を染め上げて

この景色を 誰かに伝えたい

ただ美しい ただそれだけを

言葉にすれば こぼれてしまう

それでも残したい この赤を

こんなにも世界は 鮮やかだから

English

Countless maple leaves drifting on the river's face

each single leaf a burning shade of red

slowly dyeing the water as they go

I had even forgotten to breathe

Even in the distant age the gods watched over

surely no one had ever seen a sight like this

now, before my very eyes, a miracle unfolds

Even in the mighty age of gods, unheard of —

dyeing the water in deep crimson

the Tatsuta River now belongs to no one

simply beautiful — and that alone is enough

words could never catch up to all of this

the world was this vivid all along

In the moment I happen to stop and stand still

the world had been this richly colored

and I had passed it by, never noticing

so much red, so many fleeting moments of now

Even in the distant age the gods watched over

surely no one had ever seen a sight like this

now, this very moment turns to forever

Even in the mighty age of gods, unheard of —

dyeing the water in deep crimson

the Tatsuta River now belongs to no one

simply beautiful — and that alone is enough

words could never catch up to all of this

the world was this vivid all along

In the mighty age of the gods —

never heard of even then: the Tatsuta River

dyes its waters in deep crimson ripples

Even in the mighty age of gods, unheard of —

dyeing the water in deep crimson

I want to tell someone of this sight

simply beautiful — only that, nothing more

put it into words, and it spills away

and still I want to keep it — this red

because the world is this vivid

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