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Japanese Lesson

Song Shinano No Kuni

信濃の国 — Shinano no Kuni

The Nagano Prefectural Anthem

Lyrics: Asai Retsu (1899) · Music: Kitamura Sueharu (1900) · Official prefectural song since 1968 · Public domain

A candid note before starting: this song is written in 文語体 (bungotai) — formal, classical literary Japanese from the Meiji era, full of kanji and grammar forms (archaic verb endings, classical particles) that don't appear in everyday modern Japanese at all. This is well beyond hiragana-only beginner level — treat this as a cultural immersion piece to enjoy and admire, not something to expect to parse unassisted yet. Every kanji-choked line below has its own romaji and English gloss specifically so it stays approachable regardless.

Each original written line of the song is actually two paired phrases (a common structure in this kind of formal anthem verse) — each phrase is broken out as its own line below, in the target-language / romaji / English groups of three the lesson format uses.

Verse 1 — The Land of Shinano

信濃の國は十州にShinano no kuni wa jisshū niThe province of Shinano

境つらぬる國にしてsakai tsuranuru kuni ni shiteis a land whose borders touch ten provinces,

聳ゆる山はいや高くsobiyuru yama wa iya takakuthe towering mountains are ever so high,

流るる川はいや遠しnagaruru kawa wa iya tōshithe flowing rivers stretch ever so far.

松本伊那佐久善光寺Matsumoto Ina Saku ZenkōjiMatsumoto, Ina, Saku, Zenkōji —

四の平は肥沃の地yon no taira wa hiyoku no chithese four plains are fertile land.

海こそなけれ物さはにumi koso nakere mono sawa niThough we have no sea, goods are abundant —

よろづ足はぬ事ぞなきyorozu taranu koto zo nakithere is nothing at all that we lack.

Verse 2 — Mountains and Rivers

四方に聳ゆる山々はshihō ni sobiyuru yamayama waThe mountains towering on every side

御嶽乘鞍駒ヶ嶽Ontake Norikura Komagatakeare Ontake, Norikura, Komagatake —

淺間はことに活火山Asama wa koto ni kakkazanAsama especially is an active volcano;

いづれも國のしづめなりizure mo kuni no shizume narieach of them is a guardian of our land.

流れ淀まずゆく水はnagare yodomazu yuku mizu waThe waters that flow on without stagnating —

北に犀川千曲川kita ni Sai-gawa Chikuma-gawato the north, the Sai River, the Chikuma River,

南に木曾川天龍川minami ni Kiso-gawa Tenryū-gawato the south, the Kiso River, the Tenryū River —

これ又國の固めなりkore mata kuni no katame narithese too are the strength of our land.

Verse 3 — Industry and Livelihood

木曾の谷にはま木茂りKiso no tani ni wa maki shigeriIn the valleys of Kiso, the cypress grows thick;

諏訪の湖には魚多しSuwa no umi ni wa uo ōshiin the lake of Suwa, fish are plentiful.

民のかせぎは紙麻綿tami no kasegi wa kami asa wataThe people's trade is paper, hemp, and cotton —

五穀の實らぬ里やあるgokoku no minoranu sato ya aruis there a village where the five grains don't ripen?

しかのみならず桑とりてshika nomi narazu kuwa toriteNot only that — taking mulberry leaves,

蠶養の業の打ひらけkobiki no gyō no uchihirakethe trade of silkworm-raising has flourished.

細きよすがも輕からぬhosoki yosuga mo karokaranuEven this slender livelihood is not a light thing —

國の命を繋くなりkuni no inochi wo tsunagu nariit sustains the life of our land.

Verse 4 — Scenic Places

尋ねまほしき園原やtazune mahoshiki Sonohara yaSonohara, which one longs to visit —

旅のやどりの寐覺の里tabi no yadori no Nezame no satoNezame, the village where travelers lodge.

木曾の棧かけし世もKiso no kakehashi kakeshi yo moEven in the age when the Kiso suspension bridge was built,

心してゆけ粂路橋kokoro shite yuke Kumaji-bashigo with care, Kumaji Bridge.

くる人多き筑摩の湯kuru hito ōki Tsukama no yuTsukama hot springs, where many visitors come —

月の名にたつ姨捨山tsuki no na ni tatsu Obasute-yamaObasute Mountain, famed for its moon.

しるき名所とみやびをがshiruki meisho to miyabi o gaThese well-known scenic places, and their elegance —

詩歌によみてぞ傳へたるshiika ni yomite zo tsutaetarupoets have sung of them in verse and passed them down.

Verse 5 — Notable People

旭將軍義仲もAsahi Shōgun Yoshinaka moGeneral Asahi, Yoshinaka, too —

仁科の五郎信盛もNishina no Gorō Nobumori moNishina no Gorō Nobumori, too.

春臺太宰先生もShundai Dazai sensei moMaster Dazai Shundai, too —

象山佐久間先生もShōzan Sakuma sensei moMaster Sakuma Shōzan, too.

皆この國の人にしてmina kono kuni no hito ni shiteAll of them are people of this land —

文武の譽たぐひなくbunbu no homare tagui nakutheir honor in letters and arms has no equal.

山と聳えて世に仰ぎyama to sobiete yo ni aogiLike mountains they tower, revered by the world —

川と流れて名はつきずkawa to nagarete na wa tsukizulike rivers they flow, their names never fading.

Verse 6 — Learning and Legacy

吾妻はやと日本武Azuma wa ya to Yamato-takeru"My wife..." — thus Yamato Takeru

嘆き給ひし碓氷山nageki tamaishi Usui-yamalamented, upon Usui Mountain.

穿つ隧道二十六ugatsu zuidō nijūrokuTwenty-six tunnels bored through it —

夢にもこゆる滊車の道yume ni mo koyuru kisha no michia railway now crosses it, beyond even dreams.

道ひとすぢに學びなばmichi hitosuji ni manabinabaIf we devote ourselves single-mindedly to learning,

昔の人にや劣るべきmukashi no hito ni ya otorubekiwould we truly fall short of the people of old?

古來山河の秀でたるkorai sanga no hiidetaruFrom ancient times, it has been the custom

國は偉人のあるならひkuni wa ijin no aru naraithat lands whose mountains and rivers excel produce great people.

📖 Vocabulary — ごい

Selected words drawn from across all six verses, grouped by part of speech. Many are classical/literary forms not used in everyday modern Japanese — noted where relevant.

Verbs

#	Japanese	Romaji	English	Type
1	聳える (聳ゆる, classical)	sobieru (sobiyuru)	to tower, to rise up	verb
2	流れる	nagareru	to flow	verb
3	足る (足はぬ, classical negative)	taru (taranu)	to be sufficient	verb
4	實る (實らぬ, classical negative)	minoru (minoranu)	to bear fruit, to ripen	verb
5	繋ぐ	tsunagu	to connect, to sustain	verb
6	尋ねる (尋ねまほしき, classical desiderative)	tazuneru (tazune mahoshiki)	to visit, to seek out (one longs to visit)	verb
7	傳へる (傳へたる, classical)	tsutaeru (tsutaetaru)	to pass down, to hand down	verb
8	仰ぐ	aogu	to look up to, to revere	verb
9	嘆く (嘆き給ひし, classical honorific-past)	nageku (nageki tamaishi)	to lament, to grieve	verb
10	學ぶ (學びなば, classical conditional)	manabu (manabinaba)	to study, to learn	verb
11	劣る (劣るべき, classical "should")	otoru (otorubeki)	to fall short, to be inferior	verb

Nouns

#	Japanese	Romaji	English	Type
1	國 (国, older form)	kuni	country, province, land	noun
2	山	yama	mountain	noun
3	川	kawa	river	noun
4	境	sakai	border, boundary	noun
5	地	chi	land, ground	noun
6	海	umi	sea	noun
7	火山	kazan	volcano	noun
8	水	mizu	water	noun
9	谷	tani	valley	noun
10	湖	umi / ko	lake	noun
11	魚	uo	fish	noun
12	民	tami	the people, citizens	noun
13	里	sato	village	noun
14	命	inochi	life	noun
15	旅	tabi	journey, travel	noun
16	湯	yu	hot spring, hot water	noun
17	月	tsuki	moon	noun
18	名所	meisho	famous/scenic place	noun
19	詩歌	shiika	poetry, verse	noun
20	人	hito	person	noun
21	先生	sensei	teacher, master	noun
22	文武	bunbu	letters and arms (scholarship and military skill)	noun
23	譽 (誉, older form)	homare	honor, glory	noun
24	隧道	zuidō	tunnel	noun
25	滊車 (汽車, older form)	kisha	steam train, railway	noun
26	道	michi	road, path; (fig.) the way (of learning)	noun
27	偉人	ijin	great person, notable figure	noun

Adjectives

#	Japanese	Romaji	English	Type
1	高い (高く, adverbial form)	takai (takaku)	high, tall	adjective
2	遠い (遠し, classical)	tōi (tōshi)	far	adjective
3	肥沃	hiyoku	fertile	adjective
4	多い (多き, classical attributive)	ōi (ōki)	many, plentiful	adjective
5	細い (細き, classical attributive)	hosoi (hosoki)	slender, thin	adjective
6	輕い (輕からぬ, classical negative)	karui (karokaranu)	light (in weight/importance)	adjective
7	しるき (classical, = 著しい)	shiruki	notable, well-known	adjective

Others (Classical Particles & Endings)

#	Japanese	Romaji	Function / English	Type
1	は	wa	topic marker ("as for...")	particle
2	に	ni	location/direction marker ("in, at, to")	particle
3	と	to	"and"; also "like/as" in similes (山と聳えて, "tower like a mountain")	particle
4	も	mo	"also, too" — used repeatedly in Verse 5 to list names	particle
5	こそ	koso	emphatic particle ("even though... it is precisely...")	particle
6	ぞ	zo	classical emphatic particle, no direct modern equivalent	particle
7	なり	nari	classical copula ("is/are") — modern だ/です	particle
8	べき	beki	classical "should/would" ending	particle

Why classical Japanese, and not modern? Meiji-era prefectural/school songs like this one were deliberately composed in 文語体 to sound dignified and timeless — the same reason a national anthem often sounds more formal than everyday speech. Recognizing endings like -なり (classical "is"), -べき ("should"), and negative forms ending in -ぬ instead of modern -ない is the single most useful skill for reading this kind of text, more than any individual vocabulary word.

A living song, not a museum piece. "Shinano no Kuni" has been Nagano's official prefectural song since 1968, but it's far older and far more beloved than that date suggests — schoolchildren across Nagano learn to sing all six verses by heart, and it's said most Nagano natives can still sing the whole thing from memory as adults. It's even played as a train departure melody at certain Nagano stations.