Coal Pits (Yama) in the Old Days: Bugle Song #4
1958 - 1963

Mukashi no Yama: Rappa Bushi #4
[Coal Pits (Yama) in the Old Days: Bugle Song #4]
21.2 x 30.4 cm Ink Painting

Lyrics of "Rappa Bushi" Song
1. Ichirin sen to gorin sen, dochira ga yoi ka to tou tare ba,
Ono no Komachi ja nai keredo, ana no nai ho ga yoi wai na.
Toko-tottoko-toh!

If you ask me to choose the 1-rin (0.001-yen) coin or the 5-rin coin,
I will choose the one with no hole (5-rin coin),
though it has no relation with Ono no Komachi.
Toko-tottoko-toh! (Onomatopoeia of the sound of a bugle)

[Translator's Notes: The 5-rin coin had no hole in the center. Ono no Komachi was a famous Japanese woman tanka (a Japanese 31-syllabled poem) poet in the Heian period (794-1192) and her name is still a symbol of beauty in Japan. She was unreasonably slandered that she had no vagina because she would not have any boyfriends.]

2. Ju En satsu to go En satsu, dochira ga yoi ka to tou tare ba,
Chushingura no gishi no mon, futatsudomoe ga yoi wai na.
Toko-tottoko-toh!

If you ask me to choose the 10-yen bill or the 5-yen bill,
I will choose the one with the futatsudomoe (comma-shaped design) crests printed on it (the 5-yen bill).
It's because the crest is the family crest of Kuranosuke Oishi,
who is famous as the leader of the forty-seven loyal samurai in the story of Chushingura. Toko-tottoko-toh!

The following song lyrics are of a folk song including a rokyoku (story recited to the accompaniment of a shamisen) which was popular in the Taisho era (1912-1926).

Kino no tomo wa kyo no teki.
Kawariyasui ga hitogokoro.
Saredo kawaranu shiju shichishi.
(Sono na mo Takanawa Sengakuji.)

Yesterday's friend could be today's enemy.
Men are as fickle as autumn weather.
But the forty-seven ronin did not change their minds.
(Their graves are in Sengakuji Temple in Takanawa.)

Lettering on the Coins
hansen: a half sen; 5-rin coin (0.005 yen)
Kan-ei Tsuho: 1-sen coin in the Edo era (1603-1867)
Lettering on the Coat Worn by the Warrior
Banshu Ako no Roshi: Ronin (Roshi) from Ako, Banshu
Oishi Kuranosuke: Kuranosuke Oishi


Translation Assisted by Mr. Nathan Johndro

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