Battōtai (song)

Battōtai
抜刀隊

English: Drawn-Sword Regiment
March of the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force (as the "Army March")
Lyrics	Toyama Masakazu, 1882
Music	Charles Leroux, 1887
Published	1887
Audio sample
Recording made on August 8, 1939, by the Imperial Japanese Army Band conducted by Ōnuma Satoru. The B and C sections of the march use the "Battōtai" melody. file help

"Battōtai" (抜刀隊; lit. 'Drawn-Sword Regiment') is a Japanese gunka whose lyrics come from a poem written by Toyama Masakazu in 1882 and whose melody was composed by the bandmaster of the Imperial Japanese Army Band, Charles Leroux, in 1887. The song was based on the Battle of Tabaruzaka, and the poem that made up the lyrics was inspired by the 1854 English poem "The Charge of the Light Brigade". A variation of the song, titled "Army March," has served as the march of the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force (JGSDF) since 2007.

Background

The song references the Battōtai, who fought in the Battle of Tabaruzaka during the 1877 Satsuma Rebellion. Due to supply problems and heavy rain, the Satsuma rebels were forced to engage with the Imperial Japanese Army (IJA) in hand-to-hand combat. The Satsuma rebels inflicted heavy casualties against Imperial forces, who were mostly conscripts with no experience in wielding swords. Lieutenant General Yamagata Aritomo selected and deployed men from the surrounding area who were proficient with swords. He named this unit the Battōtai, or "Drawn-Sword regiment."

History

Toyama Masakazu, the poem's author

Charles Leroux, the song's composer

The song's lyrics were originally a poem written by Toyama Masakazu. Toyama had been inspired by the English poem "The Charge of the Light Brigade" by Alfred, Lord Tennyson, which he had translated. He published "Poem of the Battōtai" in book Selection of Poetry in the New Style (『新体詩抄』), published 1882. Despite the name of the book, Toyama's poem was written in the "old style". The poem gained immediate popularity amongst boys and young men. The genre of gunka, the Japanese term for military music, gives a favorable bias towards themes of death.

Charles Leroux, a French bandmaster and composer, arrived in Japan in 1876 as part of a French military advisory group. He composed a melody for "Battōtai" in 1887 that used both major and minor keys while he served as bandmaster of the Imperial Japanese Army Band.

"Battōtai" was first publicly performed the same year at a concert hosted by the Greater Japan Music Society at the Rokumeikan. It was considered the first Western-style military song in Japan and the first to become popular across the country, although it was initially believed to be difficult to sing for Japanese individuals unaccustomed to modulation.

Variations

Army March

Leroux took the tune of "Battōtai" and another one of his songs, "Fusōka", and created an arrangement called the "Army March". It was used as the official march of the IJA and was used to announce military successes during World War II. The march is still part of the repertoire of the military bands of the Japan Self-Defense Forces and the National Police Agency. It has been the march of the JGSDF since 2007.

Others

The song's tune was borrowed for a song titled "The Normanton Sinks Beneath the Waves", written after the English ship Normanton sank off the coast of Japan. The tune was also used for a wide variety of songs, including "The Voice of the Pines," "The Tsingtao Motif," "Naramaru's Chaos," "The Ancient Moon and Flower," and "First Comes Ichinomiya Shrine."

Lyrics

Japanese

Transliteration into rōmaji

我は官軍我敵は 天地容れざる朝敵ぞ 敵の大將たる者は 古今無雙の英雄で 之に從ふ兵は 共に慓悍决死の士 鬼神に恥ぬ勇あるも 天の許さぬ叛逆を 起しゝ者は昔より 榮えし例あらざるぞ 敵の亡ぶる夫迄は 進めや進め諸共に 玉ちる劔拔き連れて 死ぬる覺悟で進むべし 皇國の風と武士の 其身を護る靈の 維新このかた廢れたる 日本刀の今更に 又世に出づる身の譽 敵も身方も諸共に 刃の下に死ぬべきぞ 大和魂ある者の 死ぬべき時は今なるぞ 人に後れて恥かくな 敵の亡ぶる夫迄は 進めや進め諸共に 玉ちる劔拔き連れて 死ぬる覺悟で進むべし 前を望めば劔なり 右も左りも皆劔 劔の山に登らんは　 未來の事と聞きつるに 此世に於て目のあたり　 劔の山に登るのも 我身のなせる罪業を　 滅す爲にあらずして 賊を征討するが爲　 劔の山もなんのその 敵の亡ぶるそれ迄は　 進めや進め諸共に 玉ちる劔拔き連れて　 死ぬる覺悟で進むべし 劔の光ひらめくは　 雲間に見ゆる稻妻か 四方に打出す砲聲は　 天に轟く雷（いかづち）か 敵の刃に伏す者や　 丸に碎けて玉の緒の 絶えて墓なく失する身の　 屍は積みて山をなし 其血は流れて川をなす　 死地に入るのも君が爲 敵の亡ぶる夫迄は　 進めや進め諸共に 玉ちる劔拔き連れて　 死ぬる覺悟で進むべし 彈丸雨飛の間にも　 二つなき身を惜まずに 進む我身は野嵐に　 吹かれて消ゆる白露の 墓なき最期とぐるとも 忠義の爲に死ぬる身の 死（しに）て甲斐あるものならば　 死ぬるも更に怨なし 我と思はん人たちは　 一歩も後へ引くなかれ 敵の亡ぶる夫迄は　 進めや進め諸共に 玉ちる劔拔き連れて　 死ぬる覺悟で進むべし 我今茲（われいまここ）に死ん身は　 君の爲なり國の爲 捨つべきものは命なり　 假令（たと）ひ屍は朽ちぬとも 忠義の爲に捨る身の　 名は芳しく後の世に 永く傳へて殘るらん　 武士と生れた甲斐もなく 義もなき犬と云はるゝな　 卑怯者となそしられそ 敵の亡ぶる夫迄は　 進めや進め諸共に 玉ちる劔拔き連れて　 死ぬる覺悟で進むべし

Ware wa kangun waga teki wa Tenchi irezaru chouteki zo Teki no taishou taru mono wa Kokon musou no eiyuu de Kore ni shitagou tsuwamono wa Tomo ni hyoukan kesshi no shi Kijin ni hajinu yuu aru mo Ten no yurusanu hangyaku wo Okoseshi mono wa mukashi yori Sakaeshi tameshi arazaru zo Teki no horoburu sore made wa Susume ya susume morotomo ni Tamachiru tsurugi nuki tsurete Shinuru kakugo de susumu beshi Mikuni no fuuto mononofu no Sonomi wo mamoru tamashii no Ishin kono kata sutaretaru Yamato-gatana no ima sara ni Mata yo ni izuru mi no homare Teki mo mikata mo moro tomo ni Yaiba no shita ni shinu beki zo Yamato-damashii aru mono no Shinubeki toki wa ima naru zo Hito ni okurete haji kakuna Teki no horoburu sore made wa Susume ya susume morotomo ni Tamachiru tsurugi nuki tsurete Shinuru kakugo de susumu beshi Mae wo nozomeba tsurugi nari Migi mo hidari mo mina tsurugi Tsurugi no yama ni noboran wa Mirai no koto to kikitsuru ni Kono yo ni oite manoatari Tsurugi no yama ni noboru no mo Waga mi no naseru zaigou wo Horobosu tame ni arazushite Zoku wo seibatsu suru ga tame Tsurugi no yama mo nann' no sono Teki no horoburu sore made wa Susume ya susume morotomo ni Tamachiru tsurugi nuki tsurete Shinuru kakugo de susumu beshi Tsurugi no hikari hirameku wa Kumoma ni miyuru imazuma ka Yomo ni uchidasu housei wa Ten ni todoroku ikazuchi ka Teki no yaiba ni fusumono ya Tama ni kudakete tamanowo no Taete hakanaku usuru mi no Kabane wa tsumite yama wo nashi Sono chi wa nagarete kawa wo nasu Shichi ni iru nomo kimi ga tame Teki no horoburu sore made wa Susume ya susume morotomo ni Tamachiru tsurugi nuki tsurete Shinuru kakugo de susumu beshi Dangan'uhi no aida nimo Futatsu naki mi wo oshimazu ni Susumu waga mi wa noarashi ni Fukarete kiyuru shiratsuyu no Hakanaki saigo wo togurutomo Chugi no tame ni shinuru mi no Shinite kai aru mono naraba Shinurumo sarani uraminashi Ware to omowan hitotachi wa Ippo mo ato e hikunakare Teki no horoburu sore made wa Susume ya susume morotomo ni Tamachiru tsurugi nuki tsurete Shinuru kakugo de susumu beshi Ware ima koko ni shinan mi wa Kimi no tame nari kuni no tame Sutsu beki mono wa inochi nari Tatoi kabane wa kuchinu tomo Chugi no tame ni sutsuru mi no Na wa kanbashiku nochi no yo ni Nagaku tsutaete nokoru ran Bushi to umareta kai mo naku Gi mo naki inu to iwaruruna Hikyou mono to na soshirare so Teki no horoburu sore made wa Susume ya susume morotomo ni Tamachiru tsurugi nuki tsurete Shinuru kakugo de susumu beshi

Score

External links

• "Battotai March (抜刀隊)", SoundCloud