Sakura Sakura

This article is about the Japanese folk song. For the Japanese visual novel of the same name, see Sakura Sakura (visual novel).

Score of "Sakura"

"Sakura Sakura" (さくら さくら, "Cherry blossoms, cherry blossoms"), also known as "Sakura", is a traditional Japanese folk song depicting spring, the season of cherry blossoms. Contrary to popular belief, the song did not originate in ancient times; it was a popular, urban melody of the Edo period and was adopted as a piece for beginning koto students in the Tokyo Academy of Music Collection of Japanese Koto Music issued in 1888 (in English) by the Department of Education. The song has been popular since the Meiji period, and the lyrics in their present form were attached then. It is often sung in international settings as a song representative of Japan, and many electronic crosswalks in Japan play the melody as "guidance music".

In 2007, it was selected for Nihon no Uta Hyakusen, a collection of songs and nursery rhymes widely beloved in Japan.

In early 2010's, Japanese singer Kiyoshi Hikawa performed the second of the 2 verses of Sakura Sakura - the first and only Enka singer to do so.

Melody

The "Sakura Sakura" melody uses a pentatonic scale known as the Japanese mode. This could also be construed as natural minor in western musical theory, using scale degrees 1, 2, 3, 5, and 6 (A, B, C, E, F or Do, Re, Me, Sol, and Le in solfège).

Lyrics

The original lyrics are listed as the second verse. In 1941, the Japanese Ministry of Education published an additional verse in Uta no hon (うたのほん 教師用 下), listing it first before the original verse.

Standard	Hiragana	Romaji	Translation
桜　桜 野山も里も 見渡す限り 霞か雲か 朝日に匂う 桜　桜 花ざかり 桜　桜 弥生の空は 見渡す限り 霞か雲か 匂いぞ　出ずる いざや　いざや 見に行かん	さくら　さくら のやま　も　さと　も みわたす　かぎり かすみ　か　くも　か あさひ　に　におう さくら　さくら はな　ざかり さくら　さくら やよい　の　そら　は みわたす　かぎり かすみ　か　くも　か におい　ぞ　いずる いざや　いざや みに　ゆかん	sakura sakura noyama mo sato mo mi-watasu kagiri kasumi ka kumo ka asahi ni niou sakura sakura hana zakari sakura sakura yayoi no sora wa mi-watasu kagiri kasumi ka kumo ka nioi zo izuru izaya izaya mini yukan	Cherry blossoms, cherry blossoms, In fields and villages As far as you can see. Is it a mist, or clouds? Fragrant in the morning sun. Cherry blossoms, cherry blossoms, Flowers in full bloom. Cherry blossoms, cherry blossoms, Across the spring sky, As far as you can see. Is it a mist, or clouds? Fragrant in the air. Come now, come now, Let's look, at last!

Variations

Dream of the Cherry Blossoms by Keiko Abe, a virtuoso percussionist, is a five-minute piece for marimba. This piece is based on "Sakura Sakura" and has become popular in the marimba repertoire. Yukihiro Yoko, a classical guitarist, made an arrangement for his instrument, a theme with variations, in which he uses different guitar techniques to imitate the sound of the koto.

Alfred Reed's Fifth Symphony "Sakura" is based on this folk song.

Because the melody spans a modest range, it is ideally suited to instruments that have a limited pitch range, such as the Native American flute.

In 2013 Marc Edwards recorded an album featuring 3 20 minute versions of Sakura Sakura, in a free jazz electric guitar style.

In popular culture

• Sakura (theme and variation) was arranged for classical guitar by Yuquijiro Yocoh and interpreted by John Williams on the album John Williams in Seville - 1944.
• The melody of "Sakura Sakura" is incorporated into numerous segments of Giacomo Puccini's opera Madama Butterfly.
• Japanese instrumental rock group Takeshi Terauchi & Blue Jeans did a cover of this song.
• Cat Stevens used the melody of "Sakura Sakura" at the intro in the live version of his "Hard Headed Woman" song, during his 1976 Earth Tour that was later released on his album and DVD entitled Majikat.
• Bon Jovi sampled "Sakura Sakura" at the opening of their song "Tokyo Road," featured on their 1985 7800° Fahrenheit album.
• Sakura Sakura is a song arranged for piano and cello by Jason Kouchak and Julian Lloyd-Webber from the Cello Moods album 1998.
• Sakura Sakura is used as Tokugawa's diplomacy theme in the 2005 game Civilization IV.
• Led Zeppelin's John Paul Jones performed a version of "Sakura" in his organ solo at the Nagoya, Japan October 5, 1972 show.
• In The Legend of The Five Rings, Muramasa Ando played this song only days before he was infected and couldn't pass the Kaiu Wall.
• A techno dance remix of "Sakura Sakura", titled simply "桜" ("Sakura"), was created for the Konami game Beatmania IIDX and later appeared in the DDR series from Dance Dance Revolution Extreme onwards. It was attributed to RevenG, a pseudonym used by Konami composer Naoki Maeda for songs with an ethnic Asian feel.
• The rock band Thrice used an altered version of the melody of Sakura Sakura in their song 'Music Box' which appeared in their fourth album Vheissu, released in 2005.
• The song is in the Tamagotchi Music Star as an Asian-genre song.
• An extract from the song was also used as part of Piston Honda's fight introduction in the NES game Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!!.
• In 2012, the second verse was sung by the android 'Kara' in a trailer made by Quantic Dream to demonstrate their motion capture technology.
• A part of the melody can be heard on the campaign map of the Total War: Shogun 2 strategy video game.
• Sakura Sakura ～Japanize Dream from Perfect Cherry Blossom is based on the familiar song.
• Babymetal uses the melody from Sakura Sakura, set to new lyrics, as a bridge in the song "Megitsune" from their 2014 self-titled album.
• The New Prince of Tennis has a version of Sakura Sakura with a modern tune.

External links

• Link to mp3 recording of Sakura, Sakura, the Japanese lyrics with another verse, an English translation and sheet music
• Sakura Sakura: Scores at the International Music Score Library Projectde:Japanische Kirschblüte#Das Sakura-Lied