Takeru Mikami
"Kimigayo"
Takeru Mikami
August 20, 2001
The national anthem of Japan is "Kimigayo". A matter of heated controversy, but it still remains the national anthem. People who disapprove of it as the national anthem seem to dislike the idea of the word "Kimi" signifying "my lord", and "my great lord" representing "my Emperor". They claim that "Kimigayo" means "reign of the Emperor", and such a musical score praying for the everlasting reign of an emperor is not suitable as the national anthem of a democratic state.
I have no intension to start a debate over the national anthem but behind the birth of "Kimigayo" is the existence of the Hata clan.
It is known that the words of "Kimigayo" are from a poem in the anthology "Kokinwaka-shuu". The only part altered was the opening. In the original poem, "Kimi ga yo" (my lord's reign) was " Waga kimi wa" (my lord). Apart from this, the words all remain the same as the original.
Based on these lyrics, it was developed into the national anthem. But the first tune was not by a Japanese. The first person commissioned to compose the tune for this lyrics was an English bandmaster called John W. Fenton. The completed tune, however, caused a nunmber of problems. Finally, a German by the name of Franz Eckert arranged the tune composed by Hiroki Hayashi and Isayoshi Oku. And Hiromori Hayashi, then chief of the Gagaku division of the Imperial Household Agency completed it as a national anthem.
Hiroki Hayashi was the son of Hiromori. From this fact, we can say that two generations of the Hayashi family had given birth to "Kimigayo". They were both Gagaku experts. Their family had been preserving the Gagaku traditions for many generations and were quite well known among the Gagaku world.
There are several lineages of musical families that can be divided into the Oo clan and the Hata clan. According to documents dating back to medieval times, some members of the Oo clan called themselves Hatas, signifying that the Oo and Hatas were from the same family.
Gagaku has its roots when Hata-Kawakatsu, the leader of the Hata clan, had his sons play music and dance in Shitenou-ji by the order of Prince Shotoku. One of these sons later begat the Hayashi family, the head family of Gagaku,. In other words, Hiroki Hayashi and Hiromori Hayashi are both direct descendants of Hata-Kawakatsu.
The Hatas who immigrated to Japan had composed the national anthem "Kimigayo". Is this coincidental? Or was there a deliberate plan behind it? At least we can say that the melody of "Kimigayo" has its roots in Gagaku, the music of the Silk Road. The Hata clan may not be the only ones who long for the distant continent while humming "Kimigayo".
Translated by Rie Ishida
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