This post is about the Japanese Song Series Six. The “Japanese Song Issue” is a series of postage stamps that Japan created between 1979 and 1981. The stamps feature children’s songs (or folk songs) and each have a few notes from the start of the song. The design of each stamp is colorful and fun, to appeal to children. Make sure to visit my main page about the series to learn more. Also check out this excellent post by Richard Scott Morel, Curator, Philatelic Collections of the British Library about this series. The release of the pair of stamps in the sixth series was on June 16, 1980.
Hinomaru (The Rising Sun)
This stamp features the national flag of Japan. The flag is officially called Nisshōki, but it has the nickname of Hinomaru, “the circle of the sun.” It also encapsulates the country’s sobriquet, the “Land of the Rising Sun.” The stamp design is by S. Watanabe and the flat waves over a rooftop. Below, the first few bars of the song “Hinomaru” by Tatsuyuki Takano and Teiichi Okano. The song, like all those in the Japanese Song Series, is sung by Japanese school children.
I also have a first day cover of this stamp. While the cover is not terribly exciting, I really love Japanese cancellations and this one is quite wonderful with a single musician standing and playing a guitar. Flags wave in the distance.
Japanese
Kaze ni tanabiku ano hata ni ko inishie yori hatameku hata ni
Imi mo naku natsukashiku nari komiageru kono kimochi wa nani
Mune ni te o ate miagereba takanaru chishio, hokori takaku
Kono shintai ni nagareyuku wa kedakaki kono okuni no mitama
Sa xaizayukan Hinode zurukoku no gyomei no shita ni
Dore dake tsuyoki Fubuki kedo haruka takaki nami ga kure do
Bokura no yuru mitama wa kujike nado shinai
Mune ni yasashiki haha no koe senaka ni tsuyoki chichi no oshie
Uketsugare shi rekishi o te ni osoreru mono ga aru darou ka
Hito ji tote wasureyashinai kaeru beki anata no koto o
Tatoe kono mi ga horobu tote iku chiyo ni saxa sakihokore
Sa xaizayukan mamoru beki mono ga ima wa aru
Dore dake tsuyoki Fubuki kedo haruka takaki nami ga kure do
Bokura no nie tagi ru ketsui wa yuragi nado shinai
Dore dake tsuyoki Fubuki kedo haruka takaki nami ga kure do
Bokura no yuru mitama wa kuji ke nado shinai
Bokura no nie tagi ru ketsui wa yuragi nado shinai
https://lyricstranslate.com/en/hinomaru-flag-japan.html
English
That flag, trailing in the wind – a flag, that has fluttered since ancient times
Lacks meaning, and yet is nostalgic – what is this feeling welling up inside of me?
If I put my hands over my chest and look up to the sky, my blood throbs and my pride soars
The spirit of this country that flows through my body is so noble
Now come, let us go forth, under the name “Land of the Rising Sun”!
No matter how strong the wind that blows is, no matter how far or high the waves can reach,
The flames of our swaying spirits surely won’t lose heart
The gentle voice of Mother in my chest, and the stern teachings of Father on my back
In these hands that have inherited history, why are there still things we fear?
Even if we can’t forget the old days, you can still return to how it was back then
Even if our bodies were to be destroyed, they will come to bloom in several thousand years
Now come, let us go forth, there are now things we ought to protect
No matter how strong the wind that blows is, no matter how far or high the waves can reach,
Our seething determination, surely, will not be swayed
No matter how strong the wind that blows is, no matter how far or high the waves can reach,
The flames of our swaying spirits surely won’t lose heart
Our seething determination, surely, will not be swayed
https://lyricstranslate.com/en/hinomaru-flag-japan.html
Here is a short recording of the tune of Hinomaru using the Japanese shakuhachi.
Natsu no omoide (Memories of Summer)
The other stamp in the set features another landscape. The design for this stamp is by M. Anno and features a march that recedes into the distance and represents the song Natsu no omoide (Memories of Summer). The song is by Shoko Ema and Yoshinao Nakata.
Japanese
Natsu ga kureba omoidasu
Haruka na Oze tooi sora
Kiri no naka ni ukabi kuru
Yasashii kage no no komichi
Mizubashou no hana ga saite iru
Yumemite saite iru mizu no hotori
Shakunage iro ni tasogareru
Haruka na Oze tooi sora
Natsu ga kureba omoidasu
Haruka na Oze no no tabi yo
Hana no naka ni soyosoyo to
Yure yureru ukishima yo
Mizubashou no hana ga niotte iru
Yumemite niotte iru mizu no hotori
Manako tsubureba natsukashii
Haruka na Oze tooi sora
English
When summer comes, I remember
Distant Oze, the far off sky
They rise in the fog
The gentle shadows and field path
The Asian skunk cabbage flowers are in bloom
Dreaming, they’re in bloom on the bank of water
It fades into twilight in a rhododendron color
Distant Oze, the far off sky
When summer comes, I remember
Distant Oze, my field journey
A floating island that gently
Sways, sways in the flowers
The Asian skunk cabbage flowers smell good
Dreaming, they smell good on the bank of water
When I see them, it’s nostalgic
Distant Oze, the far off sky
Here is a lovely rendition of this song:
