Spring time in Japan – Sakura
Sakura Sakura – a Traditional Japanese Folk song
Sakura, sakura (Cherry blossoms, cherry blossoms)
Yayoi no sora wa (Across the spring sky)
Mi-watasu kagiri (as far as you can see)
Kasumi ka kumo ka (Is it mist or is it clouds)
Nioi zo izuru (Fragrant in the air)
Izaya izaya (Come with me)
Mini yukan (Let’s look, at last)
Sakura (sah koo rah) means cherry blossoms. The song is about the coming of spring, a time when the cherry trees bloom. It is one of Japan’s best known melodies and often played on the koto.
The melody is based on the Japanese pentatonic scale – 5 tones. The simple structure of the song and memorable melody make the song easy to remember. These five tones are used in many traditional Japanese songs and give the music a beautiful, haunting sound.
Sakura was written in the 1800’s and was used at the Tokyo Academy of Music for koto. A koto is a traditional Japanese stringed instrument and is the national instrument of Japan. The instrument usually has 13 strings and 13 movable bridges. The strings are plucked using 3 finger picks.
Sakura blooms in Japan late March, or early April. The beautiful pink blossoms signals the season for new beginnings. April is the start of a new school year and many college graduates begin new jobs. It is the beginning of the financial fiscal year for many Japanese businesses.
On March 27, 1912, the Mayor of Tokyo, Japan; Yukio Ozaki,( You key oh Oh zah key) presented 3,020 cherry tree saplings to Washington D.C. as a token of friendship. Since 1934, a National Cherry Blossom Festival has been held in Washington, D.C. each year.
Tokyo is a largest and most populated city on the earth – over four times larger than New York City. There are many lovely green spaces with gardens and seasonal trees planted. Families flock to local parks in the spring to enjoy the beautiful sakura. The parks are dotted with families having picnics and taking lots of pictures.
The young woman in the video below is singing “Sakura” at one of the beautiful parks in Tokyo. She is being accompanied with a koto.
In 2016 I was fortunate to spend six weeks in Japan attending Japanese festivals and studying Japanese folk music through a Lily grant. The grant enabled me to travel all around Japan and soak in the sounds and sights of this wonderful country.
After completing my travels, I wrote a program about my experiences and had my 1st through 6th grade students perform various folk songs and dances from Japan.
I wrote a 2 part vocal arrangement of “Sakura” and a recorder solo of “Sakura” that my students performed in this program.
If you would like to get a copy of the arrangements of Sakura, they are for sale at Noteflight, Sheet Music Direct and Sheet Music Plus under Becky Muncy arrangements.
Thanks to Bethany Muncy Hisada for the lovely video and picture of Sakura. Credit to wikipedia for the picture of the woman playing the koto.
“If I were asked to explain the Japanese spirit, I would say it is wild cherry blossoms glowing in the morning sun.” Motoori Norinaga
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