海行かば "Umi Yukaba"

Umi Yukaba (海行かば) - Imperial Japanese Song

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ba8XXpiTcSE 

 

God, King and Country

 

Umi Yukaba (海行かば) - Imperial Japanese Song

based on a chōka poem by Ōtomo no Yakamochi in the Man'yōshū (poem 4094). As set to music in 1937 by Kiyoshi Nobutoki (信時 潔 Nobutoki Kiyoshi) it has been popular during and also after World War II. - Wikipedia

 

I chose not to use pictures from WWII as it would be controversial. I used pre-WWII pictures.

 

詞は、『万葉集』巻十八「賀陸奥国出金詔書歌」（『国歌大観』番号4094番。『新編国歌大観』番号4119番。大伴家持作）の長歌から採られている。作曲された歌詞の部分は、「陸奥国出金詔書」（『続日本紀』第13詔）の引用部分にほぼ相当する。

 

この詞には、明治13年（1880年）に当時の宮内省伶人だった東儀季芳も作曲しており、軍艦行進曲の中間部に今も聞くことができる。戦前においては，将官礼式曲として用いられた。- Wikipedia

 

 

Umi Yukaba - (Recording in 1941)

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

 

The Royal History

 

-Sung by the Tokyo Music School band in 1941.

 

"Umi Yukaba" (海行かば) is a Japanese song whose lyrics are based on a chōka poem by Ōtomo no Yakamochi in the Man'yōshū (poem 4094), an eighth century anthology of Japanese poetry, set to music by Kiyoshi Nobutoki.

The poem is part of Ōtomo no Yakamochi's famous long poem celebrating the imperial edict on the discovery of gold in Michinoku province (modern Tohoku) in 749. The distant ancestors of the Ōtomo clan were known as masters of the royal Kume guard. The poem reflects their pledge to serve their sovereign.

 

"Umi Yukaba" later became popular among the military, especially with the Imperial Japanese Navy. As set to music in 1937 by Kiyoshi Nobutoki (信時 潔, Nobutoki Kiyoshi) it became popular during and also after World War II. After Japan surrendered in 1945, "Umi Yukaba" and other gunka were banned by the Allied occupation forces. With the ending of the occupation, the song has now been widely played across military circles in Japan, including performances by the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force.

 

Prior to Nobutoki’s composition, the poem had been set to music in the trio section of the Gunkan kōshinkyoku. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Umi_Yukaba

-In the pictures are soldiers of the Japanese imperial army between 1900 s - 1940s, and the three Emperors: Meiji, Taisho and Hirohito.