Yashi
no mi
(Coconut)
Year:
1901
Composer: Toraji Onaka
Poet: Toson Shimazaki
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to play sound:
Na
mo shira nu tooki shima yoriNagare yoru yashi no mi hitotsu
Furusato no kishi o hanarete
Nare wa somo nami ni iku tsuki
There is a far away island, which I don’t know the name.
From this island came one coconut floating on the ocean.
How long have you, coconut, been drifting on the waves,
so far from the coast of your home?
Eda wa nao kage o yanaseru
Ware mo mata nagisa o makura
Hitorimi no ukine no tabi zo
Casting its shade all around.
I am also a drifter, wandering without a home.
I have used the seaside as my pillow.
Aratanari ryuuri no urei
Umi no hi no shizumu o mireba
Tagiri otsu ikyoo no namida
And the loneliness of my drifting life is renewed in full.
When I behold the sun setting into the sea, tears flow down my face.
For I am in an unknown place.
Izure no hi ni ka
Kuni ni kaeran
comings and goings of the waves, I know
that one day I will return to my
true home.