, also known as "Sakura", is a traditional
Japan
Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
ese
folk song
Folk music is a music genre that includes #Traditional folk music, traditional folk music and the Contemporary folk music, contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be c ...
depicting spring, the season of
cherry blossom
A cherry blossom, also known as Japanese cherry or sakura, is a flower of many trees of genus ''Prunus'' or ''Prunus'' subg. ''Cerasus''. They are common species in East Asia, including China, Korea and especially in Japan. They generally ...
s. It is often sung in international settings as a song representative of Japan.
Contrary to popular belief, the song did not originate in ancient times; it was a popular, urban melody of the
Edo period
The or is the period between 1603 and 1867 in the history of Japan, when Japan was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and the country's 300 regional '' daimyo''. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengoku period, the Edo period was characteriz ...
.
Melody
The "Sakura Sakura" melody has been popular since the
Meiji period
The is an era of Japanese history that extended from October 23, 1868 to July 30, 1912.
The Meiji era was the first half of the Empire of Japan, when the Japanese people moved from being an isolated feudal society at risk of colonization ...
, and the lyrics in their present form were attached then. The tune uses a
pentatonic scale
A pentatonic scale is a musical scale with five notes per octave, in contrast to the heptatonic scale, which has seven notes per octave (such as the major scale and minor scale).
Pentatonic scales were developed independently by many ancien ...
known as the
''In'' scale.
Expressed as diatonic notes in the
major scale
The major scale (or Ionian mode) is one of the most commonly used musical scales, especially in Western music. It is one of the diatonic scales. Like many musical scales, it is made up of seven notes: the eighth duplicates the first at double i ...
, the
In scale The ''in'' scale (also known as the ''Sakura'' pentatonic scale due to its use in the well-known folk song ''Sakura Sakura'') is, according to a traditional theory, one of two pentatonic scales used in much Japanese music, excluding '' gagaku'' and ...
is 3, 4, 6, 7, 8 (1), 10 (3); or the notes E F A B c e (nominally A minor); or in solfège Mi Fa La Ti Do Mi. The melodic scale can either be represented in older Western musical theory by the
Phrygian minor or the
Phrygian major mode, with the 3rd and 7th notes in the scale omitted.
Because the melody spans a modest
range
Range may refer to:
Geography
* Range (geographic), a chain of hills or mountains; a somewhat linear, complex mountainous or hilly area (cordillera, sierra)
** Mountain range, a group of mountains bordered by lowlands
* Range, a term used to i ...
, it is ideally suited to instruments that have a limited pitch range, such as the
Native American flute
The Native American flute is a flute that is held in front of the player, has open finger holes,
and has two chambers: one for collecting the breath of the player and a second chamber which creates sound.
The player breathes into one end of the ...
(similar to the
Shakuhachi
A is a Japanese and ancient Chinese longitudinal, end-blown flute that is made of bamboo.
The bamboo end-blown flute now known as the was developed in Japan in the 16th century and is called the . ).
The melody arranged by Ongaku Torishirabe-gakari was included in ''Collection of Japanese Koto Music'' issued in 1888, for beginning
koto
Koto may refer to:
* Koto (band), an Italian synth pop group
* Koto (instrument), a Japanese musical instrument
* Koto (kana), a ligature of two Japanese katakana
* Koto (traditional clothing), a traditional dress made by Afro-Surinamese women
* K ...
students in the Tokyo Academy of Music.
Lyrics
The original lyrics
are listed as the second verse in the table below. In 1941, the
Ministry of Education
An education ministry is a national or subnational government agency politically responsible for education. Various other names are commonly used to identify such agencies, such as Ministry of Education, Department of Education, and Ministry of Pub ...
published a new verse in ''Uta no hon'' (うたのほん 教師用 下) which was listed first, with the original verse listed second.
However, there are various theories about the original lyrics. According to one theory, it is said that "Sakura Sakura" is a parody of "Saita sakura". "Saita sakura" is thought to have been made as a Japanese koto song in during the Edo period. (Lyrics: さいた桜 花見て戻る 吉野は桜 龍田は紅葉 唐崎の松 常盤常盤 深みどり)
In popular culture
* The first lines of the original verse ('sakura sakura yayoi no sora wa mi-watasu kagiri') serve as a prelude to
Bon Jovi
Bon Jovi is an American Rock music, rock band formed in 1983 in Sayreville, New Jersey. It consists of singer Jon Bon Jovi, keyboardist David Bryan, drummer Tico Torres, guitarist Phil X, and bassist Hugh McDonald (American musician), Hugh McD ...
's song "Tokyo Road" from their second album
7800° Fahrenheit
''7800° Fahrenheit'' is the second studio album by American rock band Bon Jovi. It was released on March 27, 1985, through Mercury Records. The album's title is a reference to the supposed melting point of rock, which is equivalent to 4313° Ce ...
(released in 1985).
* In the ''
Punch-Out!!
is a video game series of boxing created by Nintendo's general manager Genyo Takeda, and his partner Makoto Wada. The first game was '' Punch-Out!!'' made in 1984 as an arcade unit, which was followed by a sequel '' Super Punch-Out!!'' (1984) ...
'' games, an instrumental rendition is used for Piston Hondo's opening theme.
* Japanese band
BUCK-TICK
Buck-Tick (stylized as BUCK-TICK) is a Japanese Rock music, rock band, formed in Fujioka, Gunma in 1983. The group has consisted of lead vocalist Atsushi Sakurai, lead guitarist Hisashi Imai, rhythm guitarist Hidehiko Hoshino, bassist Yutaka Hig ...
used this melody in live versions of their "Victims of Love" song in the early '90s.
*
Alfred Reed
Alfred Reed (January 25, 1921 – September 17, 2005) was an American neoclassical composer, with more than two hundred published works for concert band, orchestra, chorus, and chamber ensemble to his name. He also traveled extensively as a ...
's 1994 ''Fifth Symphony'' "Sakura" is based on this folk song.
* In 2003,
Ōta Jun'ya composed "Sakura, Sakura ~ Japanize Dream" as part of the credits theme for the video game ''
Perfect Cherry Blossom
is a 2003 vertical Shoot 'em up#Bullet hell, bullet hell scrolling shooter, scrolling shoot 'em up developed by Team Shanghai Alice. It is the seventh game in the ''Touhou Project'' series. Playable characters include returning protagonists Reimu ...
''.
* ''Dream of the Cherry Blossoms'' by
Keiko Abe
is a Japanese composer and marimba player. She has been a primary figure in the development of the marimba, in terms of expanding both technique and repertoire, and through her collaboration with the Yamaha Corporation, developed the modern fiv ...
, a virtuoso percussionist, is a five-minute piece for
marimba
The marimba () is a musical instrument in the percussion family that consists of wooden bars that are struck by mallets. Below each bar is a resonator pipe that amplifies particular harmonics of its sound. Compared to the xylophone, the timbre ...
that is based on "Sakura Sakura" that has become popular in the marimba repertoire.
* In 2007, it was selected for
Nihon no Uta Hyakusen, a collection of songs and nursery rhymes widely beloved in Japan.
* In early the 2010s, Japanese singer
Kiyoshi Hikawa
is a Japanese enka singer who was born on September 6, 1977 in Minami-ku, Fukuoka, Japan.[Hikawa Kiyoshi: Pro ...](_blank)
performed the second of the two verses of "Sakura Sakura" - the first and only
Enka
is a Japanese music genre considered to resemble traditional Japanese music stylistically. Modern ''enka'', however, is a relatively recent musical form, which adopts a more traditional musical style in its vocalism than ''ryūkōka'' music, p ...
singer to do so.
* Yukihiro Yoko, a
classical guitar
The classical guitar (also known as the nylon-string guitar or Spanish guitar) is a member of the guitar family used in classical music and other styles. An acoustic wooden string instrument with strings made of gut or nylon, it is a precursor o ...
ist, made an arrangement for his instrument, a theme with variations, in which he uses different guitar techniques to imitate the sound of the
koto
Koto may refer to:
* Koto (band), an Italian synth pop group
* Koto (instrument), a Japanese musical instrument
* Koto (kana), a ligature of two Japanese katakana
* Koto (traditional clothing), a traditional dress made by Afro-Surinamese women
* K ...
.
*
Babymetal
(stylized in all caps) is a Japanese kawaii metal band consisting of Suzuka Nakamoto as "Su-metal" and Moa Kikuchi as "Moametal". The band is produced by Kobametal from the Amuse talent agency. Their vocals are backed by heavy metal instrume ...
used this melody in their song "
Megitsune
is the second major label single by the Japanese kawaii metal band Babymetal. It was released in Japan on June 19, 2013 as the fifth single from the album ''Babymetal''. It is also the first single released independently from the idol group Sakur ...
" in 2013.
* In 2013
Marc Edwards Marc or Mark Edwards may refer to:
Marc Edwards
* Marc Edwards (American football) (born 1974), American football player
* Marc Edwards (professor) (born 1964), professor of civil and environmental engineering
* Marc Edwards (drummer) (born 1949), ...
recorded an album featuring three 20 minute versions of "Sakura Sakura", in a free jazz electric guitar style.
* Many electronic crosswalks in Japan play the melody as "guidance music".
*
Headhunterz
Willem Rebergen (born 12 September 1985), better known by his stage name ''Headhunterz'', is a Dutch DJ and music producer. Rebergen is also a voice actor. He has done dubbing for several movies and TV series. He started his career in 2005 work ...
sampled part of this song for his 2017 song "Path of the Hunter".
* In ''Kara'', a short film/tech demo created by
David Cage
David De Gruttola (born June 9, 1969), known by his pseudonym David Cage, is a French video game designer, writer and musician. He is the founder of the game development studio Quantic Dream. Cage both wrote and directed the video games ''Heavy ...
and his company
Quantic Dream
Quantic Dream SA is a French video game developer and publisher based in Paris. Founded in May 1997, Quantic Dream has developed five video games: ''The Nomad Soul'' (1999), ''Fahrenheit'' (2005), ''Heavy Rain'' (2010), '' Beyond: Two Souls'' ...
about a robot who is built to serve humanity, the robot is asked to "sing something in Japanese", after which she sings this song. Eventually, this short film was adapted into a video game,
''Detroit: Become Human.'' In the game, one of the main characters, Markus - an android, is trying to put himself together in a junkyard. This references the short film when Markus stumbles upon a dying Kara model, the one from the film, that is still singing the song.
* The song appears in the soundtrack of the video game ''
Total War: Shogun 2'', playing during the game's campaign map mode.
* Flutist
Jean-Pierre Rampal
Jean-Pierre Louis Rampal (7 January 1922 – 20 May 2000) was a French flautist. He has been personally "credited with returning to the flute the popularity as a solo classical instrument it had not held since the 18th century."
Biography
Ea ...
and harpist
Lily Laskine
Lily Laskine (31 August 1893 in Paris – 4 January 1988 in Paris) was one of the most prominent harpists of the twentieth century. Born Lily Aimée Laskine to Jewish parents in Paris, she studied at the Conservatoire de Paris with Alphonse Hasse ...
recorded a version for their album: Japanese Melodies for Flute and Harp
*
Sakura-Variationen
''Sakura-Variationen'' (''Sakura Variations'') is a 2000 trio composition scored for saxophone, piano, and percussion by Helmut Lachenmann. It is written in the form of variations on a Japanese folk song about the cherry blossom called "Sakura Sa ...
(Sakura Variations) is a 2000 trio composition scored for saxophone, piano, and percussion by
Helmut Lachenmann
Helmut Friedrich Lachenmann (born 27 November 1935) is a German composer of contemporary classical music. His work has been associated with "instrumental musique concrète".
Life and works
Lachenmann was born in Stuttgart and after the end of ...
.
* Sakura Sakura also appeared on Wii Music as one of the song selections in the Jam Mode.
* In the Tokyo area, each train station has its own distinctive jingle used to signal train departures. The jingle for the
Komagome and
Musashi-Koganei stations are based on Sakura Sakura.
*
Hololive Production
is a virtual YouTuber agency owned by Japanese tech entertainment company Cover Corporation. In addition to acting as a multi-channel network, Hololive Production also handles merchandising especially in music production and concert organizati ...
virtual youtuber, Akai Haato used this melody in a scary version of the song, jokingly talking about herself.
* In the video game
Genshin Impact
''Genshin Impact'' is an action role-playing game developed and published by miHoYo. It was released for Android (operating system), Android, iOS, PlayStation 4, and Windows in 2020, on PlayStation 5 in 2021, and is set for release on Nintendo ...
the background song of the Archon of Inazuma (a region inspired by Japan) uses a musical arrangement inspired by this song.
*
Canis Canem Edit use melody of Sakura Sakura for ConSumo minigame.
References
External links
Sakura Sakura played in 1959 by three artists from Tokyo's University of Art on three different Koto's (17 string, 13 string and 9 string)
Link to mp3 recording of Sakura, Sakura, the Japanese lyrics with another verse, an English translation and sheet music*
{{Authority control
Japanese folk songs
Japanese-language songs
Japanese songs
Year of song unknown
Songs about cherry blossom
de:Japanische Kirschblüte#Das Sakura-Lied