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Hyakunin Isshu No. 93 · Minamoto no SanetomoYo no Naka wa

“Let the World Stay as It Is” — Minamoto no SanetomoSource: Shin Chokusenshū, Travel · 525
世の中は 常にもがもな 渚漕ぐ
海人の小舟の 綱手かなしも
Yo no naka wa tsune ni mogamo na nagisa kogu
ama no obune no tsunade kanashi mo
If only this world could stay unchanged forever —
the fisherman's small boat rowing the shore, the tow-rope pulling, unbearably dear.
Hyakunin IsshuShin Chokusen WakashūTravelAdmirationImpermanenceThe shore at Kamakura (Yuigahama)
Yo no Naka wa jacket art▶

What the poem says

If only this world could stay unchanged forever. How dear it is, this ordinary sight of a fisherman's small boat rowing along the shore, pulling its tow-rope.

Music Video

ミュージックビデオ

The Story

歌のものがたり

Historical Background

Minamoto no Sanetomo was the third shogun of the Kamakura shogunate. Son of Yoritomo, he became shogun at twelve, but real power lay with the Hōjō clan, and he lived his days as a figurehead who might be killed at any moment. His refuge was waka, and he was hailed as a genius in the Man'yō style. On a snowy night at the age of twenty-eight, he was assassinated by his nephew Kugyō on the stone steps of Tsurugaoka Hachimangū shrine. He is almost the only person in the Hyakunin Isshu from the Kamakura warrior class.

The Poet's Heart

The awesome thing about this poem is that what he wishes could last forever is neither blossoms nor the moon but "a fisherman's little boat." For a person whose tomorrow is not guaranteed, the everyday scene in which nothing is happening is the most precious thing of all.

What We Put into the Lyrics

"Would that the world stayed as it is"—Sanetomo's prayer that things not change, we layered onto an ordinary morning that begins with the smell of a slightly burnt fried egg. But we don't let it end with prayer alone. Having realized "everything I called ordinary was a miracle," this song's answer is to turn the prayer into action: if you want it to go on, then live today with care. Because he was a man who did not know tomorrow, today was the most dazzling of all—this is the song of the other side of that.

Lyrics

歌詞
Japanese

世の中は（新勅撰和歌集・百人一首93番）Garu JP

Verse 1

目玉焼きの 焦げたにおい

テレビの天気予報

「いってきます」の ドアの音

いつもと同じ 朝

Pre-Chorus

この繰り返しが なぜだろう

たまらなく 愛おしい

Chorus 1

世の中は 常にもがもな

続いてほしいと 願うなら

なんでもない 今日のすべてを

大切に 生きていこう

ふつうの日々は 宝物

Verse 2

スーパーの袋さげて

夕陽の道を帰る

「おかえり」って声がする

それだけで いいんだ

Pre-Chorus 2

当たり前と呼んでいたもの

ぜんぶ 奇跡だったんだ

Chorus 2

世の中は 常にもがもな

夕陽も「おかえり」も 守りたい

なんでもない 毎日のなか

幸せが 隠れてる

ふつうの日々を 育てていく

Bridge

海辺で小舟を 見ていた人も

同じ祈りを 波にたくした

明日を知らない 人だったから

今日がいちばん まぶしかった

Drop

世の中は 常にもがもな 渚漕ぐ

あまの小舟の 綱手かなしも

Final Chorus

世の中は 常にもがもな

変わるものだと 知っているから

なんでもない 今日のすべてを

抱きしめて 生きていくよ

ふつうの日々よ ありがとう

Outro

渚漕ぐ あまの小舟の……

綱手かなしも

English

Yononaka wa (Shin Chokusen Wakashu / Hyakunin Isshu No.93) Garu JP

The smell of fried eggs, slightly burnt

The weather forecast on TV

The door closing on an "I'm off!"

A morning just like always

This repetition — I wonder why

It feels so unbearably dear

O world, stay as you are forever

If I truly wish these days to last

Then every bit of this ordinary today

I'll live with tender care

These ordinary days are treasure

Carrying a grocery bag home

Down a road washed in sunset

A voice calls out "welcome home"

And that alone is enough

All the things I once called ordinary

Every one of them was a miracle

O world, stay as you are forever

The sunset, the "welcome home" — I'll keep them all

Within these unremarkable days

Happiness is hiding

I'll keep growing these ordinary days

The one who watched a small boat from the shore

Entrusted the same prayer to the waves

He was a man who never knew tomorrow

So today shone brightest of all

O world, stay unchanged forever — along the shore

A fisherman's small boat, drawn by rope — how dear it is

O world, stay as you are forever

But I know that everything must change

So every bit of this ordinary today

I'll hold it close and live on

Thank you, my ordinary days

Along the shore, the fisherman's small boat...

How dear it is

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