Kagome Kagome
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Kagome Kagome (かごめかごめ, or 籠目籠目) is a Japanese children's game. One child is chosen as the oni (literally demon or ogre, but similar to the concept of "it" in tag) and sits blindfolded (or with their eyes covered). The other children join hands and walk in circles around the oni while chanting the song for the game. When the song stops, the oni speaks aloud the name of the person behind them, and if they are correct, the person behind will exchange places with the oni.
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[edit] Lyrics
In Japanese, this song can be rendered several ways including:
| Japanese characters | English transliteration (Romaji) |
| かごめかごめ 籠の中の鳥は | Kagome kagome, kago no naka no tori wa |
| いついつ出やる 夜明けの晩に | Itsu itsu deyaru? Yoake no ban ni |
| 鶴と亀と滑った | Tsuru to kame to subetta. |
| 後ろの正面だあれ | Ushiro no shoumen daare? |
| Translation: |
Kagome kagome, the bird in the cage,
when, when will you come out?
In the evening of the dawn,
the crane and turtle slipped.
Who stands right behind you now?
Sometimes the last few lines are translated literally as the following:
At dawns and evenings.
Who is in front of the back,
where a crane and turtle slipped and fell?
[edit] Analysis
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A better description of the roles the children represent in the game is that the person inside the center of the circle is "Kagome", the bird inside the "cage", which the other people make with linked hands surrounding her. The first question in the rhyme, "when is she released from her cage?", is answered by the second question in the rhyme: she escapes when she answers correctly "who is behind the falling of the turtle and the crane"-- in other words, who is about to stab her in the back.
In reality, the people making the cage are the oni, and the person in the center is the caged bird, Kagome.
In Japan, the crane symbolizes vigilance, prudence, innocence, and a thousand years of happiness, and the turtle, a good omen, symbolizes 10,000 years of life.
When the rhyme asks "who is behind the fall of the turtle and the crane", or "a turtle and a crane slipped and fell, who is directly behind you", it has a sinister meaning, as in, "who is the backstabber" or "the one who brings ill".
There is belief, the game could have been based on the betrayal of Oda Nobunaga (as he had nickname, the Demon-king, he is believed to be symbolized by the oni) by Akechi Mitsuhide, who is the mysterious backstabber.
The rhyme can be given an even more sinister meaning when you imagine that "in the evening of the dawn" translates to "in the end of light", "the end of first light", or to "one who backstabs you early in the morning (in your sleep)". The latter makes even more sense because Kagome, in the cage, is blind-folded.
