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

(Prepared by Mr Farhan Kamal)

Song's Background 

Music analysts said the Sakura song boom began in spring 2003 when singer-songwriter Naotaro Moriyama released "Sakura (vocal solo)." It turned out to be a big hit with more than 1 million disks sold. "Sakura (vocal solo)" is a song of comparing cherry blossoms' blooming and scattering with encounters and departures of people, with a piano performance in the background.

This song is quite rare and could even be carried in a school textbook. It is a song with wide appeal, capturing the hearts of those in their teens as well as middle-aged and elderly people. Japanese people feel there is something noble in cherry blossoms as they do not wither but scatter. The blooming of cherry blossoms coincides with Japan's season of school graduations and personnel changes at business enterprises. It is a particular sensitivity of Japanese who regard short-lived cherry blossoms as a symbol of death and reincarnation.

The second verse says that “we can say them now those words without lies, true words hoping for your glittering future”'. Based on this verse, some quarters argue that Moriyama's Sakura is against the image of soldiers who would die for the nation. This verse implies that in contrast to the pre-war period, Japanese people want to say now true words wishing for their real glittering future.  This song is an anti-war song considering that Japan was again trying to send soldiers to a war, Iraq war. Japan sent Self-Defence Force to Iraq War from 2003 to 2009. This was widely criticised as the first despatch of the Japanese force to a war area after 1945 despite the Japanese Constitution.

Moriyama's song has been said to have dashed a post-war Japanese taboo against Sakura songs. Japanese people are hesitant to take up Sakura as straight topics because of strong impression from war songs, such as 'Douki no Sakura' which means “Synchronous Sakura”. It literally means cherry blossoms blooming at the same time, but the song, popular during the Pacific War, was about soldiers and officers joining the military in the same year wishing to fight and die together, like
cherry blossoms scattering at the same time.

Interpretation of the lyrics

In this song, the lyric gives the idea that friendship can be likened to the cherry blossom (sakura) tree. Once the cherry flowers are in full bloom, it symbolises that it’s time for us to move on with the life-taking a new journey thus parting among friends is unavoidable.

Parting is like a fate or something that has to come sooner or later and when the time comes for the parting, it feels like the time becomes very fast as depicted in “scattering in an instant, I know that it’s fate”.

“Believing that one day they will be reborn”. This phrase is like a consolation for us that meeting and parting are natural in life. We must believe that one day we will meet again with friends who have parted from us.

During the parting, friends wish each other luck and shining future. Though it’s hard to say goodbye, it has to be said nonetheless with the hope that we will meet again one day.