, also , is an Okinawan song about traditional Ryukyuan values such as filial piety and other Confucian teachings in the Okinawan language.Nagahama, Yoshiki Jesse Whitehead of New Zealand publishes photography book featuring Okinawan proverbs Ryukyu Shimpo, January 7, 2015
Description
The title of the song can be translated as "The Balsam Flowers". The song is an Okinawan children's song; Okinawan children would squeeze the sap from balsam flowers to stain their fingernails as a way to ward off evil.Murata, Grant. Of A Sanshin Sensei The Hawai‘i Herald, August 21, 2015 The lyrics of the song are Confucian teachings. Of the first six verses, the first three relate to filial piety, while the latter three refer to respecting one's body and one's goals. Each verse has exactly the same number of notes using language and meter devices that are uniquely Okinawan, called Ryūka.
The Okinawa Prefectural government designated "Tinsagu nu Hana" as "Okinawa Prefecture's favorite song" on March 18, 2012, following a public survey. It was subsequently made an official symbol of Okinawa Prefecture, making it the prefecture's second musical symbol alongside the "Song of Okinawa Prefecture".
Lyrics The last four of the ten verses are missing.
Okinawan てぃんさぐぬ花や 爪先に染みてぃ 親ぬゆし事や 肝に染みり
天ぬ群星や 読みば読まりしが 親ぬゆし言や 読みやならん
夜走らす舟や 子ぬ方星見当てぃ 我ん生ちぇる親や 我んどぅ見当てぃ
宝玉やてぃん 磨かにば錆す 朝夕肝磨ち 浮世渡ら
誠する人や 後や何時迄ん 思事ん叶てぃ 千代ぬ栄い
なしば何事ん なゆる事やしが なさぬ故からどぅ ならぬ定み
Transliteration
Tinsagu nu hana ya Chimisachi ni sumiti Uya nu yushigutu ya Chimu ni sumiri
Tin nu muribushi ya Yumiba yumarishi ga Uya nu yushigutu ya Yumiyanaran
Yuru harasu funi ya Ninufabushi miati Wan nacheru uya ya Wan du miati
Takaradama yati n Migakaniba sabisu Asayu chimu migachi Uchi yu watara
Makutu suru hitu ya Atu ya ichi madi n Umukutu n kanati Chiyu nu sakai
Nashiba nangutu n Nayurugutu yashi ga Nasanu yui kara du Naranu sadami
English translation
Just as my fingernails Are stained with the pigment from balsam flowers My heart is painted With the teachings of my parents
Although the stars in the sky Are countable The teachings of my parents Are not
Just as ships that run in the night Are guided to safety by the North Star I am guided by my parents Who gave birth to me and watch over me
There's no point in possessing magnificent jewelry If you don't maintain it People who maintain their bodies Will live life wonderfully
The desires of the person who lives sincerely Will always run true And as a result She will prosper
You can do anything If you try But you can't If you don't
Popular culture Ryuichi Sakamoto used the song in the album Beauty. According to Felicity Collins of La Trobe University, this was the initial time that the song was "appropriated for a ‘world music’ audience". - Alternate link - Cited: p. 113 (PDF p. 3/9) - See profile
It is a song used in the soundtrack of the 2003 Australian film Japanese Story. Shelley Scown was the vocalist, while Elizabeth Drake did the orchestral work. The song is used in the film's ending, where the protagonist, Sandy, watches an aircraft, which is carrying the body of a Japanese man, Hiromitsu, whom she grows to know throughout the film, taxiing and preparing to take off. Collins wrote that some movie critics from Japan perceived the usage of the song as "a contentious issue" because the song specifically has an Okinawan character and yet is not something generally related to Japan, and "secondly because the fragility and beauty of this song, about upholding Okinawan identity, seems incongruous in an Australian film".
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Further reading
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