# Japanese Peasant Songs/Banquet Songs

Banquet Songs
Songs of this group are popular verses sung at drinking parties, wedding banquets and on occasions of farewell. Dances are usually performed to their accompaniment, while the people sitting about the room clap their hands in rhythm with the playing of the samisen and join in the refrain as a chorus.
There are several characteristics of the banquet songs which may be noted here.
* An introduction, usually the most formal part of the song and never improvised, sung by the samisen player. This opening song is usually in the regular twenty-six syllable dodoitsu form. Example: Song 1.
* A verse or two sung very rapidly which may be joined in by the others and which is often improvised on the spur of the moment—a jibe at some one present or a humorous comment on a local situation.
* The hayashi, a verse spoken very quickly in a special rhythm and voice by the samisen player and accompanied by occasional bangs on her instrument. The hayashi is open to improvisation, is irregular in form and of no set length. It is usually marked by humor and a strong local dialect. Koisa! koisa! koisa! is often added after a particularly funny hayashi, especially if anyone is dancing. Example: Song 4.
* The refrain. This may be “yoiya sa” or some other meaningless phrase added at the end of a song. Sometimes a loud “ha ha ha” is added to a hayashi in the heat of excitement. All present join in the refrain.
* The final vowels at the end of a phrase or line are frequently heavily accented or lengthened and terminated by a glottal stop.
Kuma Rokuchōshi
Kuma Rokuchōshi is the most famous local song of Kuma county and no party is complete without it. Judging by the universal knowledge of the song throughout the district, it is probably rather old. Tanabe in his Folksongs of Kuma estimates it to be not more than three hundred years old. It is so famous indeed, that there is even a recording of it in a Japanese commercial series of folksongs. This recorded version is somewhat different from that of Suye, and it is sung in the high shrill voice of a geisha, worlds removed from the hearty voice of the farmer’s wife. In addition to the more or less standard verses there are many others sung to the same tune, some of which are given in the next section. The rokuchōshi type of song with a similar tune is also found in the neighboring prefecture of Kagoshima, according to Kodera. The term rokuchōshi itself is rather widespread being found in other prefectures of Kyūshū.
The term rokuchōshi means six-tone song. This may refer to the way in which the samisen strings are adjusted for the melody, but no one in Suye is very certain of the derivation of the word nor is the folklorist Kodera. The Suye manufacturer of shōchū, a rice liquor, has named his product Rokuchōshi Shōchū, thus reflecting the popularity of the song and at the same time enhancing the sale and prestige of his product. The song as sung in the villages of Kuma serves as a strong sentiment-arousing symbol of provincial unity.
The form of Kuma Rokuchōshi is the regular dodoitsu twenty-six syllables in 7-7-7-5 order except for the first stanza which has an irregularity in that the second line has nine syllables instead of seven.
The three stanzas given as Songs 1, 2, and 3 together with Song 4 form the standard verses and hayashi of Kuma Rokuchōshi as sung in Suye. The text of Song 1 is also given in the Kuma County Reader and in Kodera’s collection. Tanabe in his Folksongs of Kuma gives all the first three songs as well as four others not heard in Suye. For the text of these four see Appendix I, Songs 117–20. The commercial recording gives stanzas 1 and 3 as given here, but has a different text for stanza 2 as noted in Song 2, note 9. A version of the hayashi (Song 4) is given in the Kuma County Reader and on the commercial recording.
Kuma Rokuchōshi
| 1 | Kuma de ichiban Aoi san no gomon Gomon gomon to Mae wa hasuike Sakura baba Yoiya sa, koi sasa! | Kuma’s best Aoi Shrine gate Shrine gate O! Lotus pond in front And cherry tree riding ground Yoiya sa, koi sasa! ​ |
| 2 | Koko wa Nishimachi Koyureba Demachi Demachi Demachi to Demachi koyureba Sakura baba Yoiya sa, koi sasa! | Here is Nishimachi Beyond lies Demachi Demachi Demachi O! And beyond Demachi The cherry tree riding ground Yoiya sa, koi sasa! |
| 3 | Kuma to Satsuma no Sakai no sakura Sakura sakura to Eda wa Satsuma ni Ne wa Kuma ni Yoiya sa, koi sasa! | On Kuma and Satsuma’s border Grows a cherry tree A cherry a cherry O! With branches in Satsuma And roots in Kuma Yoiya sa, koi sasa! |
* ↑ Dai Nippon Gramaphone Company, Nishinomiya Taihei Record No. 4600.
* ↑ ​ Or: Kuma de meisho wa (Kuma’s famous place).
* ↑ ​ Or: Oharai san no gomon (honorable shrine gate).
* ↑ ​ Instead of repeating the last word of the second line of each stanza, some singers double the first word or phrase of the third line. Thus in stanza 1 instead of tripling ‘gomon’, the next phrase ‘mae wa’ is doubled (in stanza 2 ‘Demachi’, in stanza 3 ‘Eda wa’). The first two lines and the fourth and fifth lines of these stanzas were given as single lines by Mr. Aiko in Suye—a division of songs into two parts or “hemistitches” often practiced by the Japanese in transcribing folksongs.
* ↑ ​ Or: hasyukei.
* ↑ ​ Beauty spot, or view is understood.
* ↑ ​ Aoi Shrine is a Shinto shrine in Hitoyoshi, the old capital and castle town of Kuma. A large festival is held at the shrine every autumn to which people come from all over the county.
* ↑ ​ The sentiments expressed in this opening song are typical of many provincial songs, for instance, Iso bushi, a song not local to, but popular in Suye Mura, runs: Iso de meisho wa Oharai sama yo Matsu ga miemasu Hono bono to Saishone miemasu Hono bono to Iso’s beauty spot Is the Shinto shrine. Pine trees seen Dimly In the mist, seen Dimly.
* ↑ ​ The recorded version sung by a Hitoyoshi geisha gives a different song as the second stanza which is: Koko no Hitoyoshi Yu no deru tokoro Koro Sagara otome no Yuki no hada Yoiya sa Here is Hitoyoshi: Place of hotsprings, Of Sagara maidens, Of snow white skin. Sagara is the name of the former ruling feudal lord of Kuma, and the name is, in this song, also applied to the girls of Hitoyoshi, the old castle town.
* ↑ Satsuma is the old name for Kagoshima prefecture, immediately south of Kuma.
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The Country Headman—I
Kuma Rokuchōshi hayashi
This song is the hayashi of the regular Kuma Rokuchōshi. There are numerous minor variations the most commonly heard of which are given here as Songs 4a and 4b. The hayashi is a free form unlike the regular 7-7-7-5 syllable series of dodoitsu. There are however certain rhythms of sound and length (e.g. inawasete, karuwasete) and five syllable lines to end sections (e.g., Ushiro mae … Hoe-mawaru). Like most hayashi this one has a humorous content.
Hitoyoshi is the capital of Kuma, a commercial center of countless one- and two-storey shops, a few geisha houses, a third rate hot springs and the ruins of the castle of Sagara, the feudal lord or daimyō of Kuma. Today with a population of around 20,000 it is by far the largest and most impressive town in the region. A village headman is usually of some old land-owning family of high prestige within his own small community, but in visiting a big town and putting on airs, yet withal impressed, he cuts a figure open to the ridicule heaped upon him in this song.
| 4a | Inaka shōya don no Hitoyoshi kei miyare Asa no asa no Asa no hakama wo Ushiro nago Mai wo hikite Ushiro mae Hikkaragete Gombo zuto yara Yamaimo zuto yara Inawasete Karuwasete Sagara jōka wo Achya bikkuri Kochya bikkuri Shasha meku tokoro wo Ara mā shōshyuna Torage no inu ga Shōya don Shōya don Shōya don Uchikamo shite Hoe-mawaru Yoiya sa! | A country headman Hitoyoshi came to see. With hemp skirt His hemp skirt Long behind Pulled up in front Behind, before Hiked up. What with gobō in straw What with mountain potatoes Hanging over his shoulder Slung on his back— Sagara castle town Gazing there Gazing here Strutting along Oh my! what a sight! Ferocious dogs The headman The headman The headman About to bite Are barking all around Yoiya sa! |
The Country Headman—II (A variation of 4a)
Kuma Rokuchōshi hayashi
| 4b | Inaka shōya dono Jōka kembutsu Miyare yoisa Asa asa asa no Hakama o Ushiro dakō Mae hikkaragete Gombo zuto yara Yamaimo zuto yara Shakkuri shakkuri Shasha meku tokoro ō Ara ma shōshina Torage no inu ga Shōya don Shōya don Shōya don Uchikamo sh’te Hoe-mawaru Yoiya sa, koi sasa! | A country headman In the castle town sightseeing. Look, look At the hemp, the hempen Skirt High in back Tucked up in front Gobō in straw wrapping Mountain potato ditto Shakkuri shakkuri! Strutting along Oh my! what a sight! Ferocious dogs The headman The headman The headman About to bite Are barking all around Yoiya sa, koi sasa! |
You Are a Sharp Sword
Kuma Rokuchōshi
These three songs are sung in Suye as an integral part of Rokuchōshi, usually following right after Songs 1 to 3. This second trio is probably not local to Kuma because some of them are found quite independently in other parts of Kyūshū. The verses are not included as part of Rokuchōshi by Tanabe in Folk Songs of Kuma. Lafcadio Hearn has a translation but no text of Song 7 in his essay “Out of the Street” in the volume Gleanings in Buddha Fields. In Kuma the verses are sung, of course, to the tune of Rokuchōshi. In form, Songs 5–7 are regular 7-7-7-5 dodoitsu.
| 5 | Omaya meiken Washa sabi gatana Gatana gatana to Omaya kirete mo Washa kirenu Yoiya sa koi sasa! | Thou art a sharp sword I a rusty sword. A sword, a sword; You may cut I never. |
| 6 | Kōyu goen ga Mōichido araba Araba, araba to Kami no mamori ka Arigataya Yoiya sa koi sasa! | Such a relationship Another if there be, If there be, if there be; To the protection of the gods Let us give thanks. |
| 7 | Omaya hyaku made Washa kujuku made Made made to Kami ni shiraga no Haeru made Yoiya sa, koi sasa! | Till you reach a hundred And I ninety nine, Should reach, should reach; Until our hair Turns white. |
Other Rokuchōshi
The verses of this group are local songs of Kuma county of the same forms and sung to the same tune as stanzas 1 to 7. Due to the predominance of Rokuchōshi as the local song, many independent verses are molded to this dominant song pattern of Kuma.
Hayashi Sung to the Tune of Rokuchōshi
The hayashi in this group are for the most part highly obscene, if not on the surface, then in double entendre. The more women at a banquet the more likely these verses are to be sung, to the accompaniment of equally obscene dances. The place of a banquet is no hindrance, some of the freest having been sung at a meeting of a Woman’s Kwannon Society at the little Zen temple of Suye (e.g., Nos. 15 and 20).
I Beg your Pardon, But—
A ditty such as this is much enjoyed when the drinking is well under way. The rather broad outspoken humor of this song is characteristic of many songs and jokes at drinking parties in rural Japan. Note the alternating assonance of a and o. ‘Batten’ is a characteristic of Kyūshū speech; ‘bobo’ is also a localism. The form of the song is regular 7-7-7-5 dodoitsu.
| 8 | Yuchya s’man batten Uchi no kaka unago Kesa mo hagama de Bobo aruta | I beg your pardon, but— My old lady is a woman. This morning in a basin She washed her c—t. |
Rain Had Not Been Falling
This stanza is simply a jocular, not very coherent, reason for the muddiness of the Yamada river. This river, so far as I know, is not in Kuma.
| 9 | Ame wa furanedo ya Yamada go ga niguru Yamada onnago no Heko no shuru Yoiya sa | Rain has not been falling But Yamada river is dirty. Yamada women’s Skirts’ juice. |
Needles of the Green Pine
This song, with its poetic sentiment is in marked contrast to the broad humor of the previous two, reminding one more of the Rokuchōshi verse (3) about the cherry tree growing on the border of Kuma and Satsuma. Some of the farewell songs of the next section (e.g. Nos. 26 and 28) are of this type also—reflecting a romantic sentimentalism about love in contrast to a bawdy appreciation of its humor. The form of this song is 7-7-7-5 dodoitsu with an extra word—karete—inserted and repeated after the second line (cf. the form of Songs 1–3).
| 10 | Aoi matsuba no Shute uriya are Karete karete Karete ochiru mo F’taridzure Yoiya sa! | Needles of the green pine When dying— Even in falling Fall down In couples. |
The Road to Meet the Lover
Dragons and water are associated in Japanese folklore. There may be a hidden meaning in this verse, but the writer is not aware of it. The form is regular 7-7-7-5 dodoitsu.
| 11 | Sama ni kayō michya Kudashino no todoro Shita nya ja ga sumu Buku ga tatsu Yoiya sa! | The road to meet the lover: By thundering rapids. Underneath lives a dragon And bubbles rise. |
Opening the Door
This song is to be interpreted as an arrangement by a young woman for a visit from her lover. Shōji means literally a kind of sliding screen, but it serves in this context as a door to the house. The form is somewhat irregular, the second line having nine instead of the usual seven syllables (cf. Song 1 for a similar form and Song 38 for one of similar content).
| 12 | Shōji hikiake Konnyaku imo nageta Konya kuru tono Shirase daro Yoiya sa! | Opening the door, Throwing a konnyaku, Coming tonight— It must be the sign. |
In the Middle of the Night
This song is rather sad; a woman, lying awake, hears a group of men, probably drunk, wandering down the road and one of them she recognizes as her lover. Or, more likely, she is waiting for her husband to return and is fearful that he may be very drunk.
| 13 | Shō no yonaka ni Futa koe mi koe Ato no hito koya Ki ni kakaru Yoiya sa | In the middle of the night Two or three voices— The last voice Worries me. |
Drinking with One’s Lover
This song describes the scene of two lovers getting together and exchanging cups of wine. When drinking in company it is both polite and social to exchange cups of wine as one drinks. The description of the exchange here suggests a double entendre of a man and a maid making love.
This is a hayashi in characteristic free form with lines of varying numbers of syllables but with certain regular repetitions of sound and length (cf. Song 4).
| 14 | Ippai totta Oshōchū wo Kuro jokkya Nawashite Shiro jokkya Nawashite Sama to futaide Yattai Tottai Suru tokkya Kokoro wo Dosh’ta monkya Ha ha ha! | A full cup taken Of wine. Into the black jug Pour it, Into the white jug Pour it. With one’s lover, When Giving, Taking— The heart How does it feel? |
You Going Up
This is a characteristic homely song descriptive of a countryman going calling with a few rude gifts. Both plum and scallion are commonly served with tea to casual visitors in the Kuma region. There is probably a double entendre here of the sex act with the man bearing certain gifts to the woman; see note 32. The form is a short hayashi.
| 15 | Onushya kami age Hotsuri hotsuri Noburan sei Miyagya takanbach! ’Mebushi rakkyo S’kakete mottoru | You going up Slowly, slowly Going up; Gifts of bamboo hat, Pickled plum and scallion Carrying. |
At Taragi’s Bunzōji
This song involves a play on kedo ‘but,’ and ke ‘hair,’ in this context, pubic hair. Thus the last three lines might be interpreted to mean that the hair is not there, i.e., does not matter when “it” (copulation) is just right. Another interpretation is that when the orgasm is reached pubic hair does not matter or interfere. In Japanese jokes about sex the pubic hair, especially that of a woman, receives a good deal of attention, mostly as an interference with the joys of love.
The last line is sometimes used as a refrain to other songs.
Taragi and Yunomae are country towns in Kuma; Bunzōji and Nekohatsu names of taverns or geisha houses.
The form is hayashi of irregular syllabication.
| 16 | Taragi no Bunzōji Yunomae no Nekohatsu don Ke mo nan mo makonda Chōda yoka tokya Ke do koija gozansan | At Taragi’s Bunzōji, At Yunomae’s Nekohatsu— Hair and everything wrapped around. When it is just right Hair does not matter. |
If You Say It
This is an extremely colloquial text almost impossible to translate. It gains most of its point from the pivot word soko in the two meanings of ‘it’ and ‘bottom.’ The idea of unbearableness refers to the “unbearable” intensity of orgasm. The form is a hayashi; it is surprisingly regular.
| 17 | Soko yuchya tamaran Soka nokose Soko ga nakereba Miza tamaran | If you say it, it’s unbearable So leave it out. Without bottom It cannot hold water. |
Your Maidservant
In this song there is a play on the word koshimoto which means both maid and base of the hips. Dances performed by women to the accompaniment of this song have, of course, sudden forward hip movements at appropriate points. In form it is a short hayashi of irregular syllabication.
| 18a | Omai san no koshimoto Shansu ni misetara Nusan ga tamaran Nushu tamaranu | Your maidservant, If you show her to Shansu He couldn’t stand it, He couldn’t bear it. |
| 18b | Omai san ga koshimoto Nusan ga tamaran Mish tamaranda Watasi ga mite sayo Mish tamaranda | Your maidservant— He couldn’t stand it. Unbearable to see Even if I look, Unbearable to see. |
Good Feeling
This is another almost untranslatable song, but everyone who sings it knows what it is meant to express—sexual intercourse. “Keep it up until I also have that good feeling which makes me bite my lower lip and go hyon hyon.” The form is hayashi of irregular syllabication.
| 19 | Un ga yoshya Ore maja Ikizusuri Sh’ta tsuba kuwaite Ikya hyon hyon Ha ha ha! | Good feeling— I even Breathe heavily And, biting lower lip, Go hyon hyon. |
Facing the Shutter
This is said to be a hayashi but it follows the regular 7-7-7-5 dodoitsu form with ha ha ha filling out the last line. The content is typical of hayashi however.
| 20 | Toita ni mukuryu Korobi kokureba Muzorashi sama Ja ga ha ha ha! | Facing the shutter We stumble and fall. A pitiful sight But, ha ha ha! |
When Delivery Is Easy
The samisen player is a woman, and she leads most of the singing at a banquet. The constant bearing of children is a trial she knows only too well, and such a verse as this one is a definite sarcasm. The form is a brief hayashi.
| 21 | San ga yasuka tokya Komochi yasuka bai | When delivery is easy Childbirth is easy too. |
It Is Nothing
The following verses are brief hayashi all more or less variants of the same phrases or ideas. “Sh’ta kota gozansan” is added to the end of many songs and may refer, according to Suye women, either to the vagina or to intercourse—“there is no intercourse, nothing is happening below.” Sometimes it is quite meaningless in the context of the song to which it is attached, but it always causes much laughter when sung.
| 22a | Ima wa ima wa ima wa Ogoran bai ka Sh’ta kota gozansan | Now, now, now! Why are you angry? I have done nothing. |
| 22b | Yuchya kuichya Kuiya na Sh’ta kota gozansan | Don’t talk please! Don’t talk! We did nothing. |
| 22c | Yutte wa kureru na Sh’ta kota gozansan | Don’t talk please! We did nothing. |
| 22d | Chōdo yokkya tokkya Sh’ta kota gozansan | When just right— We did nothing. |
| 22e | Chōdo yōka Kokoro attari Chin chin | Just right— I’ve a mind To copulate. |
When He Does Not Know
A short hayashi:—
| 23 | Shiraren tokya Goraren tai | When he does not know He will not be angry. |
Shall We Have a Drink?
A short hayashi:—
| 24 | Nomuka baika Dosuru gaika | Shall we have a drink? How about it? |
Rokuchōshi Wakare
Farewell songs sung to the tune of Rokuchōshi. When someone is leaving the party or at farewell banquets in honor of a departing soldier or traveler, one or another of these songs may be sung. The thoughts expressed in these songs are of a sentimental nature quite different from the hayashi of the previous section, being more like Japanese literary poetry. The form of the wakare songs is regular 7-7-7-5 dodoitsu.
My Lover Is Leaving
A farewell song in regular dodoitsu form.
| 25 | Sama wa hattekyaru Wakare no tsurasa Naga no osewa ni Narimash’ta | My lover is leaving, The parting is sad. For a long time He has been kind. |
On Parting from My Lover
This song is probably not local to Kuma as Lafcadio Hearn has a similar verse recorded in his essay “Out of the Street” in the volume Gleanings in Buddha Fields, but unfortunately he does not give the Japanese text.
The song is in regular dodoitsu form.
| 26 | Sama to wakarete Matsubara yukeba Matsu no tsuyu yara Namida yara | On parting from my lover I go through the pine grove. Whether dew on the trees Or my tears—. |
I Am a Traveler
A short wakare of irregular form. Not necessarily sung to Rokuchōshi tune.
| 27 | Wasi ga tabi no sh’to de Kawaigatte okure | I am a traveler, Please cherish me. |
When the Parting Comes
This is a wakare, not necessarily associated with Rokuchōshi. The text was never properly checked with the singer and appears to be somewhat at fault, at least in the final two lines. The form is irregular.
| 28 | Wakare jato natte Sasō sekaguru Kore ga dotchi ka Sake yara Namida yara No wa hatake za yo Nagari ga | When the parting comes Let us drink abundantly, What is this? Is it sake? Is it tears? Even the upland fields Are flooded. |
You Are the Best
This song may or may not be a Rokuchōshi wakare. It is irregular in form.
| 29 | Omai san ga Ichi yoka Ichi kawaika Omai san de nakereba I wo akentai Kosa kosa kosa | You are The best, The most beloved. Without you No sunrise. |
Dokkoise
The dokkoise type of song is common in rural Japan. The people of Suye regard it as local and distinguish dokkoise from rokuchōshi songs though there is no significant difference between them either in content or in form except for the refrains. Three typical dokkoise refrains are:
Dokkoise ajya yoka ro. Dokkoise no se. Choina choina dokkoise.
The last refrain is influenced by a song, Choina choina, popular in Kuma but not local to it. Most dokkoise are in regular 7-7-7-5 dodoitsu form. Unrelated stanzas may be joined together by any one of the above refrains.
If Eggs Are Tended
The following four stanzas are frequently sung together as one song. The first two at least both deal with eggs, but the other two are quite unrelated to each other or to the first ones. The form of the first three is regular dodoitsu, that of the fourth 5-7-5-5-5.
| 30 | Dokkoise tamago wa Sodatsurya hiyoko Ha yoisho yoisho Hiyoko sodatsurya Toki utau Hara dokkoise no se | Dokkoise! Eggs, If tended, become chickens. Chickens if tended Crow in the morning. |
| 31 | Maru tamago mo Kiriyo de sh’kaku Mono mo īyo de Kado ba tatsu | Even round eggs Can be cut square. Things that are said Can be very sharp. ​ |
| 32 | Noboru hashigo no Mannaka goro de Shimbo shanse te Me ni namida | When climbing a ladder, About the middle, Please be patient— Tears in the eyes. |
| 33 | Doro mizu ni Sodaterarete mo Ne wa shosho ni Saite kirena Hasu no hana | In muddy water Though it is raised, With roots growing here and there, The lotus blossoms As a beautiful flower. |
Cold and Soba
Two dokkoise songs joined by a refrain. They are simple descriptions of two things well appreciated by the farmer—cold and food. The first is regular dodoitsu in form but the second is irregular.
| 34 | Samusa fure fure Kaya-yane arare Oto wa sede kite Furi kakaru Dokkoise ajya yokaro | Cold, fall fall— Hail on the thatch Comes soundlessly. Cold falls. |
| 35 | Ajya yokaro Ajya yokaro Sobaya no nidashi Katsuo nidashi Ajya yokaro | The flavor is good, The flavor is good. Soba soup Fish soup. It is good. |
The Painted Sake Cup
Sake cups are often painted inside, and Ebisu, a popular deity of good fortune, forms a common decoration. The form of the song is the rather unusual one of 5-7-7-7-5. (Cf. No. 48.)
| 36 | Sakazuki no Naka ni kaitaru Makiye no Ebisu Kiyo mo niko niko Asu mo mata Dokkoise ajya yokaro | Sake cup: Painted inside Silver and gold lacquer Ebisu— Today smiling, Tomorrow again. |
The Appetizer
Sake no sakana (wine fish, wine food) is any conventional food such as raw fish or pickled plum, served with the wine. Soba is a pivot word in this song meaning both a kind of buckwheat vermicelli and side. In form the song is a series of seven-syllable lines.
| 37 | Sake no sakana Dokkoisho Udonu ka soba ka Udonu soba yori Kaka no soba Yoi! shoko Shoko Ichirikiya no Don don ka | The appetizer: Is it udon? Is it soba? Rather than udon or soba Rather than my old lady’s side, The wine shop of Ichiriki. |
With Face Covered
This song refers to the old village custom of a young man visiting a young woman in her room at night, a clandestine meeting for which the lover always covers his face with a towel as a disguise. Thus any stray person would not recognize who is visiting the girl; furthermore, if he is repulsed the towel “saves” his face so that if he meets the girl next day both may act as though nothing had happened. (Cf. also Song 12.)
This and Song 37 are often run together. It is in regular dodoitsu form.
| 38 | Dokkoise no se Do ya ni hōkamuri Nuchya tō akete Iru-wai na | The dokkoise house: With face covered, You leaving open The door. |
Country Wrestling
This graphic description of sumō or Japanese wrestling, a common accompaniment of a rural festival, may also be interpreted as a parody of love-making. It is irregular in form.
| 39 | Dokkoise dokkoise wa Inaka no sumō yo ye Okitsu motsuretsu Matamo dokkoise | Dokkoise dokkoise is The country wrestling: Getting up, becoming entangled Again and again. |
White Waves
Though in regular dodoitsu form, and with a dokkoise refrain, this song has a rather sophisticated air; it may have come to Suye via one of the geisha houses of the neighboring town of Menda. Uyehara says it is popular in other parts of Japan.
| 40 | Okitsu shira-nami Tatsu no mo mamayo Kogare sae kuru Hama chidori Dokkoise aja yokaro | White waves from the horizon Roll in slowly. The plovers come, Searching for something. |
As a Butterfly
These two songs, quite unrelated, are often sung together with No. 30 as dokkoise. They are regular dodoitsu in form.
| 41 | Chō yo hana yo de Sodateta musume Ima wa tanin no Te ni nakaru | As a butterfly, as a flower Have we reared our daughter. She is now In others’ hands. |
| 42 | Omae-san to nara Washa doko made mo Yedo ya Tsushima no Hate made mo | With thee I’ll go anywhere— Even so far as Yedo or Tsushima. |
Tied to a Cherry Tree
This verse seems to be well known in various parts of Japan, though it is perfectly at home in Kuma, often being sung as a dokkoise verse. Bonneau has a text of it as a song of Honshū (the main island of Japan) in Folklore japonais, Vol. 2, No. 176. It is also included in Gesammelte Werke der Welt Musik.
The form is regular dodoitsu.
| 43 | Saita sakura ni Naze kuma tsunagu Kuma ga isameba Hana ga chiru | To a flowering cherry The stallion why have you tied? The horse, becoming restless, Will shake off the flowers. |
Other Banquet Songs Chiosan
This is a fairly popular song to which very indecent dances sometimes are performed. It is said in Suye that in the old days the song used to be sung when women gathered at night to twist hemp. When sung by the women they drop all r’s so that a word such as kaminari becomes kamina’i. The forms of the first stanza and the hayashi are irregular but the last stanza (46) is regular dodoitsu, 7-7-7-5.
| 44 | Chiosan to iwarete Ano kurai no Kiryō de na Chiosan chiosan to Iwareta kai ga Nai honni honni | The one called Chiosan Her beauty is Not so great. Chiosan Chiosan She’s not worth being called, Not really, really. |
| 45 | (Hayashi) Bota-mochi Tanna kara Aa koshi kara Koshi kara | Dumpling From the shelf— Ah! from the hip, Ah! from the hip. |
| 46 | Chiosan no ogoke Kaminari ogoke Suye mo Fukada mo Nari watari (Hayashi repeated) | Widow Chiosan, Thunder widow. All over Suye and Fukada She resounds. |
When It Rains
A characteristic Japanese nature scene in regular dodoitsu form.
| 47 | Ame no tokya yama Yama yama mireba Kiri no kakaranu Yama wa naka | In rain the mountain, If one looks at the mountain, There is no ridge Not covered by mist. |
In the Bowl of Water
The bowl of water referred to in this poem is the one used for rinsing the tiny Japanese wine cups during an exchange of drinks. It is usually furnished at a geisha house, but rarely in a farmer’s home. Mizuage is a pivot word. It means literally ‘to lift from the water’ but also has a secondary meaning ‘to take a girl’s virginity’—a term especially used in reference to a young geisha. Thus the line, “Who will lift it from the water?” also may mean “Who will take me for a bride” (ordinary young girl speaking), or “Who will take my virginity?” (neophyte in a geisha house speaking).
The form is a rather unusual one—5-7-7-7-5; cf. Song 36. (The fourth line is irregular in that it has an extra syllable.)
| 48 | Haisen no Naka ni ukabishi Ano sakazuki wa Donata ga mizuage Nasaru yara | In the bowl of water Floats that cup. Who will lift it from the water? I wonder—. |
After Drinking Wine
A song on two popular topics: drink and sex. The form is a slightly irregular dodoitsu.
| 49 | Shōchū nonde kara Iwo neburarenu Otoke daite kara Senya ne naran Shokyo yoi | After drinking wine I cannot sleep well. Lying close to a man I cannot do otherwise. |
Wine Drinking Drinking
The general idea of this song is that while I drink myself out of house and home, there are plenty of teetotalers who are also poverty stricken—therefore I may continue to drink with a clear conscience. The last two lines of this song evidently form a popular saying, since they are quoted by Hepburn in his Japanese-English, English-Japanese Dictionary.
| 50 | Shōchū wa nomi nomi Mi wa hadeka demo Geko no tatetaru Kura wa naka Yoiya sa | Wine drinking, drinking And going without clothes— Teetotalers build No storehouses. |
By the Long Paddy Path
Old Mr. Kurogi, whose father was a not very well-to-do samurai, recited this verse one evening to a few neighbors, mostly women, as they awaited a moonrise. It was the only time I heard it during the course of a year in Suye. On the surface a simple little song of country life, Kurogi claimed it had another meaning as follows: The aze michi (literally the path or dyke between rice paddies on which may be planted azuki beans) is the line down a woman’s stomach leading to the mame (literally bean, symbolically, vulva) and the mame no ha is the clitoris.
The form of the song is regular dodoitsu.
| 51 | Nagai aze-michi Yoi k’sh’ta kureta Suso ga nuretaro Mame no ha de | By the long paddy path You have come well— You must have wet your hem By the bean leaves. |
What Will You Do?
This text is of an irregular form like a hayashi, but it was not regarded as one of the Rokuchōshi cycle in Suye.
| 52 | Omaya dōsuru Heso made Ue sa made irete Naka de oretara Dōnasaru | What will you do If, when in Up to the navel, It breaks inside— What will you do? |
Though I Am Not Good
This song involves a pivot word, irekuri, meaning literally to put in and take out as at a pawnshop, but also having in this song a second sexual connotation. The form is regular dodoitsu.
| 53 | Dodoitsu heta demo Irekurya jōzu Kesa mo s’chiya de Homerareta A korya korya | Though not good at dodoitsu, I am good at business. Even this morning The pawn broker praised my cleverness. |
In the Mountains
Two songs often sung as one. The form of the first is 5-7-7-5, that of the second regular 7-7-7-5 dodoitsu.
| 54 | Yama no naka Yama no naka Ikken ya demo Sume ba miyako yo Waga sato yo | In the mountains, In the mountains Though a solitary house, After living there it seems a great city: My native place. |
| 55 | Yama de akai no wa Tsutsuji to tsubaki Saete kara yaru Fuji no hana | Red in the mountain are Azalea and camellia— I’ll give you when it blooms The wisteria flower. |
You Are the Only Hero
This is probably a local adaptation of some popular song of the Meiji period, a time when all sorts of foreign things were being borrowed including English phrases in popular songs.
| 56 | Gōgetsu wa wari hitori Iroke no nai yoni Kai bashite Yokomede choito mite Ai dontu no | You are the only hero— You pretend to have no feeling, Casting side glances, Glancing once. I don’t know. |
The Ribs of the Umbrella
This song, of rather irregular form, sounds more like a geisha song than that of a Kuma farmer. It may have reached the village through some visitor to a geisha house.
| 57 | Karakasa no hone wa Bara bara Kamya yaburete mo Take ni sōtaru En ja mo Mis’te nasaru na Rokurō-san Nambo watashi ga Yaburete mo Us’te shon shon | The ribs of the umbrella Have fallen apart; The paper is also torn, But with bamboo Tied together. Do not throw it away, Dear Rokurō. Though I Also am torn, Don’t desert me. |
Flower-Like Sano
A verse often sung by women to honor or more often to tease some man present. Sung to Ohara bushi tune (130). The form is regular dodoitsu for 58a, and a short 7-7-5 for 58b.
| 58a | Hana no Sano san ni Horen mon na mekura Meaki mekura no Aki mekura | With flower-like Sano Those who are not in love are blind, With their eyes open they are blind, Truly blind. |
| 58b | Sano san horen mo Onna no mekura Are mekura | Those not in love with Sano Are women blind, That (are) blind. |
My Penis
This song is sung in a sort of recitative without much of a tune. The samisen player strums on her instrument at the beginning of each verse and calls out the question “A kora, nan jaro kai kora?” The dancer answers with a verse as he steps lightly about the room stroking or waving a stick about a foot long and smoothed off at the end, which is placed against his body so as to represent a phallus. Thus the song and dance were performed at a farewell banquet in honor of the author in Hirayama, a mountain hamlet of Suye Mura. In Hirayama speech and act are freer than in hamlets of the plains.
In form this song is an example of a counting pattern whereby each succeeding stanza commences with a number in consecutive series. The second line of each stanza except 59a also begins with the same syllable as the number of the stanza. (Cf. some of the children’s songs, Nos. 88, 89.) The arrangement of syllables in a stanza is mostly 5-7-7-7.
| 59a | Samisen player: A kora nan jaro kai kora Dancer: A sh’totsu Dancer: Nan jaro kai kora Dancer: Watasi no chimpo Dancer: Yōka chimpo | Now then what is this? Now one What is this? My penis Good penis. |
| 59b | Dancer: Kora futatsu Dancer: Nan jaro kai kora Dancer: Futosh’te nagosh’te Dancer: Watasi no chimpo Dancer: Yōka chimpo | Now two What is this? Thick, long My penis Good penis. |
| 59c | Dancer: A mitsu Dancer: Nan jaro kai kora Dancer: Mite mo Dancer: Watasi no chimpo Dancer: Yōka chimpo | Now three What is this? Even looking (at it), My penis Good penis. |
| 59d | Dancer: Yotsu Dancer: Nan jaro kai kora Dancer: Yoko kara mite Dancer: Mai kara mite Dancer: Watasi no chimpo Dancer: Yōka chimpo | Four What is this? Look from the side, Look from the front, My penis Good penis. ​ |
| 59e | Dancer: Itsutsu Dancer: Nan jaro kai kora Dancer: Itsu mite mo Dancer: Watasi no chimpo Dancer: Yōka chimpo | Five What is this? Whenever you look, My penis Good penis. |
| 59f | Dancer: Mutsu Dancer: Nan jaro kai kora Dancer: Murorete futosh’te nagosh’te Dancer: Watasi no chimpo Dancer: Yōka chimpo | Six What is this? Long and swollen, My penis Good penis. |
| 59g | Dancer: Nanatsu Dancer: Nan jaro kai kora Dancer: Nagosh’te irosh’te Dancer: Watasi no chimpo Dancer: Yōka chimpo | Seven What is this? Long, big, My penis Good penis. |
| 59h | Dancer: Yatsu Dancer: Nan jaro kai kora Dancer: Yappari Dancer: Yōka chimpo Dancer: Watasi no chimpo | Eight What is this? Still Good penis My penis. |
| 59i | Dancer: Kokonotsu Dancer: Nan jaro kai kora Dancer: Koko de mite mo Dancer: Yappari Dancer: Yōka chimpo Dancer: Watasi no chimpo | Nine What is this? If you look from this side, Still Good penis My penis. |
| 59j | Dancer: Kora tō Dancer: Nan jaro kai kora Dancer: Totsuke mo naka Dancer: Watasi no chimpo Dancer: Yōka chimpo | Now ten What is this? Extraordinary, My penis Good penis. |
* ↑ From hiku and karageru—to pull up or tuck up.
* ↑ ​ The recording of a geisha singing this song adds after this line: Bikkuri, shakkuri. These lines have a humorous effect in Japanese, adding to the parody of the self-important visitor gaping at the sights of Hitoyoshi.
* ↑ ​ Or: shōshina.
* ↑ ​ As sung in Suye the word torage is usually rendered Taragi, the name of a town near the village. What Taragi dogs would be doing in the castle town of Hitoyoshi ten miles or more away worries no one. This is a good example in Japanese of the same linguistic process that in English made Johnny cake out of journey cake.
* ↑ ​ Shortened form of shōya dono. The ‘n’ is lengthened in singing.
* ↑ ​ Or: yūte, or: chūte.
* ↑ ​ Burdock root, a common vegetable in rural Japan. Gobō is standard Japanese, gombo, Kuma dialect.
* ↑ ​ ‘He views’ is understood.
* ↑ See song 4a, note 16.
* ↑ See song 4a, note 12.
* ↑ Humorous onomatopoeia to describe the headman’s gait.
* ↑ See Song 1, note 6.
* ↑ That is, terminate; ‘our love’ is understood.
* ↑ Uyehara interprets this to mean that I will die while still your beloved and so will miss no one when I die. This song also reflects the general Japanese ideal of a loving couple growing old together. The song is well known in other parts of Kyūshū, and Hearn collected it as noted above; it is regarded in Suye as a local Kuma song.
* ↑ A vulgar folk term. Cf. use of ‘bobo’ as a verb in Song 78.
* ↑ The meaning here is that because the women have been washing their clothes in the river it is muddy. See however Song 131. Like Song 131 the first lines have eight instead of the regular seven syllables of dodoitsu.
* ↑ A root tuber; the various imo, yama imo or mountain potato (a kind of long root, Dioscorea japonica), kara imo or sweet potato and konnyaku imo serve as phallic symbols in Kuma.
* ↑ From Koe wa?
* ↑ Or: chokkya, for choku, a small wine cup used in Kuma.
* ↑ Or: ottai.
* ↑ Strong emphasis is put on the o and t of this word to emphasize dance movements as when, for instance, on one occasion this song was sung at a women’s party to accompany a dance where one woman followed another making abrupt movements with her hips as if copulating from behind—hotsuri, hotsuri ‘slowly, slowly’—enough to shake the house with laughter in any party in Suye.
* ↑ For: umeboshi, pickled plum; as noted in the foreword ‘u’ is often used in the Kuma dialect for the ‘o’ of standard Japanese.
* ↑ Or: san.
* ↑ ​ A variant of the last three lines, sometimes sung by themselves is: Chōdo yoka tokkya Ke mo nan mo mekkonda Ke do koija gozansan
* ↑ This line also means, literally, ‘But it is not love’.
* ↑ For: soko wa.
* ↑ For: mizu wa. The contractions soka and miza add rhythm to the song.
* ↑ Or: If you don’t have that place (i.e., the right place) Or: It is meaningless.
* ↑ Pronounced ŋga in singing.
* ↑ The line’s other meaning: Your waist.
* ↑ Or: it.
* ↑ From the verb miru ‘to see’.
* ↑ Or: saye.
* ↑ From iki wa ‘breathing’.
* ↑ Or: I am fortunate (to have such a sensation).
* ↑ Or: Doita ni.
* ↑ Or: mukuru.
* ↑ Or: Koyobi.
* ↑ For: toki wa.
* ↑ From okoru, ‘to be angry’—the k has become g as sometimes occurs in the Kuma dialect.
* ↑ I.e., I have not had intercourse with anyone.
* ↑ Mr. Aiko did not know this verse but gave instead a similar one: No. 22c.
* ↑ A woman dancing to this may fold a cushion and hold it before her as a penis. It is a popular Rokuchōshi refrain.
* ↑ For: kaita.
* ↑ His song, presumably collected in Matsue, Shimane prefecture, is as follows: Parted from you, my beloved, I go alone to the pine-field; There is dew of night on the leaves; there is also dew of tears. Another English text is given by Osman Edwards on page 133 of his Japanese Plays and Playfellows.
* ↑ Or: Kimi.
* ↑ ​ Some versions add two more lines: Dosh’te omae san ni Sawaru ka bai Why with thee To be together. (“Is it not possible?” is understood.)
* ↑ “I cannot tell” is understood.
* ↑ Perhaps for: sekkaku.
* ↑ Or: akenu for yo wa akenu.
* ↑ The last line means on the surface that without you there is no sunrise, but it also carries the connotation that without you I cannot sleep. Mr. Aiko went so far as to interpret it as meaning that without you I cannot finish, i.e., cannot finish intercourse. As with many of the songs, the person speaking may be either a man or a woman.
* ↑ The term dokkoise is a meaningless term used in the refrains; it is also an exclamation used in lifting or making an exertion.
* ↑ ​ A variant of this song is: Dokkoise no tamago wo Sodatsurya hiyoko Sodatsurya toki utawo.
* ↑ This song and the next one (31) are in the nature of sad comments on the way of the world. The literal meaning of the last line of No. 30 is “there is a song,” the idea being that if a man looks after eggs he has chickens on his hands, and if, further, he is so foolish as to look after the chickens, he will soon have plenty of noise in his yard.
* ↑ This song presumably is a metaphor concerning lovemaking. In the last line ‘He has’ or ‘She has’ is understood.
* ↑ ​ A song similar to this one is recorded by Lafcadio Hearn in his essay “Buddhist Allusions in Japanese Folk-song” in the volume, Gleanings in Buddha Fields. He interprets it as a prostitute singing it to justify herself by a comparison with the lotus. Her calling is sometimes referred to as Doro mizu kagyō or Muddy water occupation. Hearn’s verse (he gives no Japanese text) is: However fickle I seem, my heart is never unfaithful: Out of the slime itself, spotless the lotus grows.
* ↑ Soba is a vermicelli-like product made from buckwheat.
* ↑ “Smiling” is understood.
* ↑ The n of udon is stressed by lengthening, perhaps as in archaic Japanese (cf. p. 7). Udon is a wheat noodle.
* ↑ Soba here means both side and buckwheat vermicelli.
* ↑ “I come” is understood.
* ↑ Or: ya.
* ↑ A variation of this song from the neighboring prefecture of Miyazaki is recorded by Bonneau as a wedding song in Folklore japonais, Vol. 3, No. 66. It runs: ​   Cho ya hana ya to Sodateta musume Koyoi anta ni Agemasu kara wa Banji yoroshiku Tanomimasu As a butterfly, as a flower Have we reared our daughter. Since we are giving her Tonight to you, We hope you will be nice (to her) In every way possible.
* ↑ Or: Omae.
* ↑ Yedo is the old name for Tokyo.
* ↑ Tsushima is a group of islands between Kyūshū and Korea.
* ↑ For: Koma.
* ↑ This line is often accompanied by strong forward movements of the hips as the chorus stresses the heavy n sounds of Honni, honni! Cf. the Hotsuri, hotsuri! of Song 15.
* ↑ This line is said to refer to a motion necessary in making hemp rope; its aptness for an indecent dance movement is not overlooked by the women of Suye.
* ↑ Two adjacent villages of Kuma where this song is sung.
* ↑ Meaning either that she is very noisy or that people gossip a lot about her, both of which things might be true. Widows in villages of Kuma have reputations for independence and promiscuity. The term goke, meaning widow, if modified to gokekai means prostitution and is often used in this sense in reference to local village widows by their kindly female neighbors.
* ↑ Naka-nai.
* ↑ Shōchū is a distilled rice liquor, the standard drink of Kuma.
* ↑ For: yō sometimes pronounced iyo.
* ↑ Ne is superfluous here so far as syllable count is concerned, nor is it necessary for meaning. It is probably included for effect and to emphasize the n sounds of the line and because the line might sound too short without it. It also emphasizes the negative naran, ‘cannot.’
* ↑ “Than to copulate” is understood.
* ↑ Hadeka-hadaka; or perhaps from hade, “gay.”
* ↑ For: nai.
* ↑ “Also” may be understood after this word.
* ↑ A storehouse is a sign of considerable wealth by rural Japanese standards. The meaning here is that not all teetotalers build storehouses.
* ↑ Perhaps from Yoku kite.
* ↑ I.e., the hem of your kimono—either a man or a woman might thus “wet his hem.”
* ↑ Meaning also that I am good at the art of love.
* ↑ The slopes of Mount Ichifusa, the high (6,000 feet) mountain of Kuma are covered with azalea and camellia trees which bloom in a profusion of color in the spring. Many people of Kuma make a trip up the mountain at this time to visit the shrine and enjoy the beauty or the flowering trees.
* ↑ For: gōketsu.
* ↑ This line serves simply as a meaningless chorus line, comparable to yoiya sa as far as peasants of Kuma are concerned when they sing this song. The phrase has diffused to rural Kyūshū like other foreign terms such as matchi for ‘match’ or koppu for ‘glass’ which are locally regarded as native, not alien terms.
* ↑ For: mono.
* ↑ Or: Machya, machya, machya ne—Wait, wait, wait!
* ↑ ‘Aged,’ ‘old.’ Yaburete is the pivot word here.
* ↑ Any name may be put in here. Flower-like is a pillow word meaning beautiful as a flower.
* ↑ For: mono.
* ↑ This is repeated before every subsequent stanza.
* ↑ ​ The o of yoka, normally short, is long in this song.
* ↑ In stanzas 59h and 59i yōka chimpo comes before watasi no chimpo, probably for euphony to follow after yappari.