Background information of songs we sing 私たちが歌う曲の背景情報

(prepared by Mr Hiroshi Shibata)

Background of the song

This song, 'Kimo o nosete' is the theme song of a Japanese famous animation directed by Mr Hayao Miyazaki, 'Tenku no Shiro Laputa', the English title 'Castle in the sky', released in 1986. This film's leading character, Pazu, is an ordinary teenage boy. He is actually an orphan and works in a mine. But after meeting a girl Theta, he set out for a journey with her and a group of pirates. This film describes the process of these two main characters' growth, and what's more, tell us how a journey makes youngsters grow mature.

Interpretation of the lyrics

The lyrics of this song clearly describe both the situation and the intention of the travellers who are preparing for their journey. I admire the song and consider this as my own theme song since I myself travel a lot as a backpacker. The song describes setting out for a journey just with a loaf of bread and a knife in a bag. Actually I also do the same when I go abroad as a backpacker.