Information about Kimi Ga Yo

Kimi ga Yo (君が代|, Kimi ga Yo), often translated as "May your reign last forever" is Japan's National Anthem, and is also one of the world's shortest national anthems in current use. ^[] The lyrics are based on a Waka poem written in the Heian Period, sung to a melody written in the later Meiji Era. The current melody was chosen in 1880, replacing an unpopular melody composed eleven years earlier.

Although Kimi ga Yo has long been Japan's de facto national anthem, it was only legally recognized as such in 1999 with the passing of the Law Concerning the National Flag and Anthem. After its adoption, there was controversy over the performance of the anthem at public school ceremonies. Along with the national flag, Kimi ga Yo was considered to be a symbol of the imperialism and the militarism in wartime. ^[0]

Lyrics

During the Heian Period when this poem was written, kimi meant "my sweetheart" or simply "you", as it often means today. But especially from the Meiji period to the World War II, kimi was interpreted as the term meaning "our lord," and referring to the Emperor of Japan. The idea that pebbles can grow into boulders was popular in Heian Japan.

Origin

The lyrics first appeared in a poem anthology, Kokin Wakashū, as an anonymous poem. While anonymous poems were not uncommon at that time, and the author may have been in fact unknown, the anonymity might be because the author belonged to one of the lower classes. The poem was also included in a lot of anthologies, and in a later period used as a celebration song by people of all walks of life. Unlike the current anthem, the poem began with "waga kimi wa" instead of "Kimi ga Yo wa". The change of the lyrics occurred during the Kamakura period. ^[1]

In 1869, around the start of the Meiji Era, John William Fenton, a visiting Irish military band leader, realized that there was no national anthem in Japan, and recommended Iwao Oyama, an officer of the Satsuma Clan, to make the national anthem of Japan. Iwao agreed and selected the lyrics. The lyrics are said to have been chosen for their similarity to the British national anthem, which is understandable since at the time Japan's modernization was heavily influenced by European powers. Iwao then asked Fenton to make the melody for it. This was the first version of Kimi ga Yo, which was discarded in 1876 because of its low popularity.

In 1880, the Imperial Household Agency adopted a new melody composed by Yoshiisa Oku and Akimori Hayashi. The composer is often listed as Hiromori Hayashi, who was their supervisor and Akimori's father. The German musician Franz von Eckert applied the melody with Western style harmony. This is the second and current version of Kimi ga Yo. By 1893, Kimi ga Yo was included public school ceremonies due to efforts by the Ministry of Education. ^[1] According to the Japan Times, Kimi ga Yo is played in C major.^[0]

Controversy

Since the end of World War II, there has been criticism of the anthem for its association with militarism and the virtual worship of the emperor as a deity, which some see as incompatible with a democratic society. Similar objections have been raised to Japan's current national flag, and demonstrations are sometimes held against both.

In 1999, the Japanese government passed the Law Concerning the National Flag and Anthem, which designated Kimi ga Yo as the official anthem and the Hinomaru as the national flag.

Schools have seen conflict over both the anthem and the flag, as the Tokyo Board of Education requires that the anthem be sung and that the flag be flown at events at Tokyo metropolitan government schools, and that school teachers respect both (by, for example, standing for the singing of the anthem) or risk losing their jobs.^[3][4] Some have protested that such rules violate the Japanese constitution, while the Board, for its part, has argued that since schools are government agencies, their employees have an obligation to teach their students how to be good Japanese citizens.

Opponents respond that as Japan is a democratic country, a national anthem praising a monarch is not appropriate and that forced participation in a ceremony involving the singing of an anthem is against the free thought clause in the Japanese Constitution. Supporters of the anthem argue that Kimi ga Yo has been the de-facto national anthem of Japan since the Meiji Era and is an important way to foster patriotism and loyalty to the emperor, which is an important national characteristic of Japan. They also suggest that Kimi ga Yo is comparable to the anthems of other democratic countries, for example the United Kingdom's (another democracy) God Save the Queen.

In 2006 Katsuhisa Fujita, a retired teacher in Tokyo, was threatened with imprisonment, and fined 200,000 yen (about 2,000 dollars), after he was accused of disturbing a graduation ceremony at Itabashi High School by urging the attendees to remain seated during the playing of the anthem.^[5]

Since 2003, 401 teachers have been punished for refusing to take part in anthem related events, though Fujita is the only man to have been convicted in relation to it. His case provoked criticism from the Japanese press and teachers.

As a way to avoid that type of punishment, teachers who are opposed to the compulsory singing of the anthem have tried to expand various English-language parody lyrics across Japan and through the internet. The parodies take the Japanese syllables and replace them with English phonetic equivalents (for example, in one of the more popular versions, 'Kimi ga yo wa' becomes 'Kiss me girl, your old one'), allowing those who sing the new version to remain undetected in a crowd. Japanese conservatives deride what they describe as 'sabotage'. There is also a political significance to some of the alternative English lyrics as they can allude to comfort women.^{[6][7][8][9][10]}

On 21 September, 2006, the Tokyo District Court ordered the Tokyo Metropolitan Government to pay compensation to all the teachers who had been subjected to fines and/or punishment under the directive of the Tokyo Board of Education. Junichiro Koizumi commented, "It is a natural idea to treat the national anthem importantly". This was seen as a landmark ruling in Japan upholding the Fundamental Law of Education in Japan. The ruling has been appealed by the Metropolitan Government ^[11]

Recordings

See also

• Flag of Japan
• Korean Empire Aegukga (modified to resemble the Kimi ga Yo)

References

External links

• Web-Japan.org National Flag and Anthem
• About.com Japanese national anthem - Kimigayo