I’m reposting stuff from my old (over 10 years!) bilingual bedtime page over here. This is one of the lullabies I sang to my children (we tried when we lived in Japan to be one-parent, one-language but that all went away when we moved back to the States.) This first recording features vocaloids singing in a more authentic Japanese accent vocaloids singing in a more authentic Japanese accent. There’s also another video of a live UK musician singing it with his guitar. His website also mentions how spooky this music feels..and talks about how it probably originated from some story about a girl trying to get past a guard at a Tokyo area castle. I imagine at night. On some nefarious purpose.
| Romanji Lyrics | Japanese Lyrics | English Translation |
| torrianse, torrianse (or toryanse) koko wa doko no hosomichi jya tenjin-sama no hosomichi jya chotto toshite kudashanse goyo no nai mono toshasenu kono ko no nanatsu no iwai ni ofuda o osame ni mairimasu iki wa yoi yoi, kaeri wa kowai kowainagara torrianse, torrianse |
通（とお）りゃんせ 通りゃんせ ここはどこの 細道じゃ 天神（てんじん）さまの 細道じゃちっと通して くだしゃんせ ご用の無いもの 通しゃせぬこの子の七つの お祝（いわ）いに おふだをおさめに まいりますいきはよいよい 帰（かえ）りはこわい こわいながらも |
Go down the path, go down the path What narrow path is this? This is the shrine god’s path go ahead down the path if you have no errand, don’t go I come to pray in celebration for this child’s seventh birthday going is easy, coming back is scary even though it’s scary, go down the path, go down the path |
What I Should Have Said 