"Aikoku Kōshinkyoku" (愛国行進曲, Patriotic March) is a Japanese patriotic song composed by Tōkichi Setoguchi with lyrics by Yukio Morikawa. It was released in December 1937.[1]
History
At the outbreak of the Second Sino-Japanese War, the Cabinet of Japan sponsored several public competitions for lyrics to Aikoku Kōshinkyoku in September 1937.[2] There were 57,578 entries for lyrics that were received, and Morikawa's entry was selected as the winner. For the music, 9,555 entries to accompany the lyrics were then received, and Setoguchi was declared the winner. Setoguchi was already a noted composer who had written the Gunkan kōshinkyoku, the official march of the Imperial Navy.
A few days after its release, Aikoku Kōshinkyoku sold a hundred thousand copies from six labels. It sold over a million by 1938.[3][4]
In popular culture
This song is used in the 1972 Malaysian film Laksamana Do Re Mi, but with different lyrics.
Miyo Toukai no sora akete Kyokujitsu takaku kagaya ke ba Tenchi no seiki hatsuratsu to Kibou wa odoru Ōyashima Oo seirou no asagumo ni Sobiyuru Fuji no sugata koso Kin'ou muketsu yuruginaki Waga Nippon no hokori nare
Tate ikkei no Ōkimi o Hikari to towa ni itadaki te Shinmin warera mina tomo ni Miitsu ni sowan Daishimei Yuke Hakkou o ie to nashi Shikai no hito o michibi kite Tadashiki Heiwa uchitaten Risou wa hana to saki kaoru
Ima ikutabi ka waga ue ni Shiren no arashi takeru tomo Danko to mamore sono seigi Susuman michi wa hitotsu nomi Ā, yūen no Kamiyo yo ri Todoroku hochou uketsugite Daikoushin no yuku kanata Koukoku tsune ni sakae are
Look at the bright eastern sky,
The sun rises high;
The true spirits of the sky and the earth
fill all the hearts of Oyashima.
Beyond the clouds of dawn Fuji's peak rises.
Unwavering and beautiful,
It brings pride to my Japan.
He who reigns in power and virtue
Is our unbroken light.
All of us subjects shall follow
And accomplish our great mission.
Carry forth the eight cords across the universe,
Guide the peoples of the four seas.
Let us build a tower of true peace
So our ideal shall bloom like a flower!
Now we face many times
Various storms and trials,
We must protect and defend righteousness
In its single path.
Ah, we remember from the divine era,
The march of our ancestors that we must follow.
We shall go beyond the great march,
So our empire will always be glorious!
Look above the eastern sea clearly dawns the sky;
Glorious and bright the sun rideth up on high.
Spirit pure of heaven and earth fills the hearts of all,
Hope abounding springs--O sweet Isles Imperial.
Yonder where the clouds of morn shed a radiant glow,
Fuji Mountain, Nippon's pride, rears its crown of snow.
Fair of form without a blot nobly doth it stand,
And unshakable--a true symbol of our land.
He who reigns above in power and in virtue dight,
Sovereign of unbroken line, is our changeless light.
We will follow--one and all loyal subjects, we--
Follow Him aright: fulfil our great destiny!
Onward, east, west, north and south. Over land and main!
Let us make the world our home, call to fellow-men
Everywhere on the four seas, let us build the tower
of just peace--let our ideal bloom forth like a flower!
Though again and yet again trials we may meet,
Over us may tempests roar, storms upon us beat,
Resolute in heart and mind justice we defend.
But one road we know to gain triumph in the end.
Hark! Far from the hallowed past of the Age Divine
Sounds our fathers' measured tread. O come fall in line!
As we, sons and daughters, march, shines our path before.
Glory be unto our land ever, evermore!
References
^"愛國行進曲". 西洋軍歌蒐集館. Retrieved 29 July 2017. (in Japanese)
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