World War II-era Japanese songs?

[Midnight-Blue766]

What songs were popular in Japan around World War II and the 1930s? I'm looking for diplomacy music for Hirohito to use in a Civilization IV mod, so military songs are preferred.

[hisashi]

Some previous postings might be of interest to you.

http://forum.axishistory.com/viewtopic. ... 5&t=168510
http://forum.axishistory.com/viewtopic. ... 5&t=162159

'Sinsetsu(fresh snow)' by Haida Katsuhiko, released in 1942
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WefsnvIzz-E

This song was welcomed because it had nothing to do with the war and everybody was tired of propaganda. Lylics are rather silly; 'Oh snow is fresh' or so.

'Akatsuki ni Inoru (pray at dawn)'by Ito Hisao, released in 1940
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TNQAxljREDk

This one is a typical propaganda song.

'Senyu(comrade)' by IJA Toyama School (the only IJA musical course) band
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Y3FlAfSSUs

This war song was later disliked by authorities because the lylics mourning fallen comrade sounded too pessimistic. But it was popular among soldiers.

[CanKiwi2]

Wonderiing if anybody can help me with the lyrics for the following song - Hirose Chusa. I am looking for both the Japanese and the english translation of the lyrics if possible. I am finding them rather hard to track down.

Thanks in advance for any help...............Nigel

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QfYX89-EI6M

[hisashi]

Japanese lylics:
http://members.jcom.home.ne.jp/niitaka4/kasihirose.htm

Rough translation:

1.
guns roar and shells fall
Raging waves wash the deck
Hirose's shout pearce the darkness
'Where's Sugino, Is Sugino there '

2.
Three times Hirose called around the ship
Nobody replied, nobody found
The ship was sinking under waves
Shells' fell more and more

3.
Hirose had only to go on boat
Then he vanished on a shell hit
Regret was deep out of Port Arthur
Though remembered as a war hero

[CanKiwi2]

Japanese lylics:
http://members.jcom.home.ne.jp/niitaka4/kasihirose.htm

Rough translation:

1.
guns roar and shells fall
Raging waves wash the deck
Hirose's shout pearce the darkness
'Where's Sugino, Is Sugino there '

2.
Three times Hirose called around the ship
Nobody replied, nobody found
The ship was sinking under waves
Shells' fell more and more

3.
Hirose had only to go on boat
Then he vanished on a shell hit
Regret was deep out of Port Arthur
Though remembered as a war hero

Thanks Hisashi,

I am using this in my Finnish Alternative History of the Winter War - Links between Finland and Japan dating back to 1905.

Cheers........Nigel

[Sewer King]

Rear Admiral Chigusa Sadao, JMSDF (retired) had been Executive Officer of destroyer Akigumo in the Pearl Harbor task force. He wrote a detailed account of it in English, which was included in:

• Goldstein, Donald M., and Dillon, Katherine V., editors The Pearl Harbor Papers: Inside the Japanese Plans (Brassey’s US, 1993), page 211:

HOW WE MAINTAINED MORALE AND PHYSICAL STRENGTH

. . . We were used to feeling extra pressure during alert steaming to watch against the enemy, but when we couldn’t even see the enemy airplanes, we were apt to have simple navigation problems [errors]. It is no wonder that morale suffered when mentally tired, as such weary steaming continued for a week, only watching to glare at the horizon. It was natural that we did so, because a sailor is only human. Moreover, if it involves navigation under stormy weather, it is even more enervating.

[One of many] methods used to maintain morale for which I worked hard [was]:

THE STRICT ENFORCEMENT OF SINGING WAR SONGS. We strictly enforced singing of war songe every day by all the crew gathered together on the open deck, so far as circumstances could permit. As for the songs, our Navy made it a habit to simply sing 4 or 5 commonplace songs at one time, but I made every effort to let them sing popular songs which I especially selected for the young sailors, who raised their voices from the bottom of their hearts for over a half hour. We could not have the effect we expected, if the sailors did it with bad grace. We couldn’t achieve the purpose of our singing until all the crew would positively attend it with great pleasure.

This sounds similar to German soldiers in the field, where officers might see a lack of voluntary singing as a sign of low morale. Modern Wehrmacht re-enactors do well to include this activity. There were WW2-era song books for different corps of the US Army and Navy. At times American servicemen might have been encouraged to sing, though not mandatory. However, group singing was more common among them during America’s previous wars.

Chigusa said that singing was mandatory aboard IJN ships, though his command was early in the Pacific War with the IJN at the top of its power. But even in defeat, I would guess that the call for song in the Navy could be even stronger. Combinedfleet.com’s study of carrier Shokaku’s loss mentions her survivors in the water. As she sank, they sang Shokaku’s song.

• Did some or even many IJN ships have their own song written for them?
  
  From the above, “war songs“ would be naval or nationalist ones. But, would “commonplace songs” be traditional ones of some kind? I thought these varied between different regions of Japan.
  
  I imagine “popular songs” meant those like Hisashi mentioned. Certain popular music, songs, and performers became permanently associated with World War II: swing music in the US, singer Vera Lynn in Britain (still alive as of this time), “Lili Marlene” in Germany. In this way, were there certain popular singers who were best loved in Japan’s war years? Maybe even who went on to postwar singing?

Among our many photos to date I can’t remember one of singing sailors, though they may appear elsewhere. We have seen several pics, illustrations, and mentions of singing IJA soldiers.

-- Alan

[Wellgunde]

Gunkan March is a very stirring song. It dates from the late 1890's and was, as I understand it, the official song of the IJN. It is very easy to find audio copies of this song on the web.

Wellgunde

[hisashi]

軍歌演習 (gunka enshu = war song exercise) seemed common not only in schools but also on ships in service. Together with raising moral, making loud voice was considered as a base of commanding/reporting in battlefield.

In school (i.e. at ground base) they often made a circle and marched singing. In the following page (navy accounting school) they are marching, with a songbook on their right hand and having it straightly. It was a typical format.

http://members2.jcom.home.ne.jp/kaikei3 ... gunka.html

This scene seems from a war movie, but somewhat arranged for good look in the movie... they are just marching!!



Sometimes they had song of their own, original or paraphrased, and sang on thir gunka enshu. Here is a BB Yamato song.



As an extremely informal sailor/soldier song, 'Danchone Bushi' was well known. It had countless variation but pilot version was the most popular. I believe they could not sing it in front of their superior....



It says 'Sea gull and pilots do not know where we die. When I die I wave my handkerchief for my freinds and that girl...'

[Markus1968]

Hello I am after the following song in Rom-ji

シンガポール陥落の歌

誰かが私を助けることができます。

この歌をローマ字の言葉を必要 - 'シンガポール陥落の歌'

そこが表示されます、あなたの単語でこのチューブ サイト

あなたは私を助けてくださいすることができます。

ARAMAKI5 - シンガポール陥落の歌（牙城陥落）　東海林太郎　ウタ＋大東亜戦史　翻へる日章旗　作置版

http://youtu.be/FqO_x_ur0O0

ありがとう

[Markus1968]

Just wondering if anyone can provide the lyrics to the attached Youtube link in Romaji?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FDb9yoYQu0k

I think this might be the title: 目指すはワシントン ／林伊佐緒、富士合唱団

Thank you and Arigato.