Battōtai 抜刀隊 | |
Composer: | Charles Leroux |
Published: | 1877 |
Sound: | 1-01 分列行進曲.ogg |
Sound Title: | Recording made on August 8, 1939 by the Imperial Japanese Army Band conducted by . The B and C sections of the march use the "Battōtai" melody. |
Author: | Toyama Masakazu |
is a Japanese gunka composed by with lyrics by in 1877. Upon the request of the Japanese government, Leroux adapted it along with another gunka,, into the military march in 1912.
The song references the Battōtai who fought in the Battle of Tabaruzaka during the 1877 Satsuma Rebellion. Because of supply problems and heavy rains, the Satsuma rebels were forced to engage with the Imperial Japanese Army in hand-to-hand combat. They 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 Battōtai or "Drawn-Sword regiment."[1]
Charles Leroux, a bandmaster and composer born in Paris, arrived in Japan in 1876 as part of a French military advisory group. He composed his "Battōtai" in 1877, while serving as bandmaster of the Imperial Japanese Army Band. The song 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 unaccustomed to modulation.[2]
Battōtai is included in the first volume of poetry compilation Shintai Shishiyou, thanks to the common effort of Tokyo University's professors Masakazu Toyama, Ryoji Yatabe, and Tetsujirō Inoue, 10 years into Meiji's rule, in 1878; the poem posted below was contained in said compilation.
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する覺悟で進むべし 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すべきに大和魂ある者の 死す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する覺悟で進むべし 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 | Kore ni shitagou tsuwamono waTomo ni hyoukan kesshi no shiKijin ni hajinu yuuaru moTen no yurusanu hangyaku wo Okoseshi mono wa mukashi yoriSakaeshi tameshi arazaru zo Teki no horoburu sore made waSusume ya susume moro tomo niTamachiru tsurugi nuki tsureteShisuru kakugo de susumu beshi Mikuni no fuuto mono no fu waSonomi wo mamoru tamashii noIshiin kono kata sutaretaruNihonto no ima sara ni Mata yo ni izuru mi no homareTeki mo mikata mo moro tomo niYaiba no shita ni shisu beki niYamato-damashii aru mono no Shisubeki toki wa ima naruzoHito ni okurete haji kakuna Teki no horoburu sore made waSusume ya susume moro tomo niTamachiru tsurugi nuki tsureteShisuru kakugo de susumu beshi Mae wo nozomeba tsuruginariMigi mo hidari mo mina tsurugiTsurugi no yama ni noboranwaMirai no koto to kikitsuru ni Kono yo ni oite manoatariTsurugi no yama ni noboru nomoWagami no naseru zaigou woHorobosu tame ni arazushite Zoku wo seibatsu suru ga tameTsurugi no yama mo nann' no sono Teki no horoburu sore made waSusume ya susume moro tomo niTamachiru tsurugi nuki tsureteShinuru kakugo de susumu beshi Tsurugi no hikari kirameku waKumoma ni miyuru imazuma kaYomo ni uchidasu housei waTen ni todoroku ikazuchi ka Teki no yaiba ni fusumono yaTama ni kudakete tama no o noTaete hakanaku usuru mi noKabane wa Tsumite yama wo nashi Sono chi wa nagarete kawa wo nasuShichi ni hairu nomo kimi ga tame Teki no horoburu sore made waSusume ya susume moro tomo niTamachiru tsurugi nuki tsureteShinuru kakugo de susumu beshi Dangan'uhi no aida nimoFutatsu naki mi wo oshimazu niSusumu wa ga mi wa noarashi niFukarete kiyuru shiratsuyu no Hakanaki saigo wo togurutomoChugi no tame ni ususu mi noShishite kai aru mono narabaShisurumo sarani uraminashi Wareto owowan hitotachi waIppo mo ato e hikunakare Teki no horoburu sore made waSusume ya susume moro tomo niTamachiru tsurugi nuki tsureteShinuru kakugo de susumu beshi Ware ima koko ni shinan mi wa Kimi no tame nari Kuni no tameSutsu beki mono wa inochi nari Tatoi kabane wa kuchinu tomo Chugi no tame ni usuru mi noNa wa kanbashiku nochi no yo niNagaku tsutaete nokoru nanBushi to umareta kai mo naku Gi mo naki inu to iwarurunaHikyou mono to na soshirare so Teki no horoburu sore made waSusume ya susume moro tomo niTamachiru tsurugi nuki tsureteShinuru kakugo de susumu beshi | The soldiers who follow him areUnited as fierce warriors ready to fight to the deathThough the wrathful deities shake their courage notHeaven will not forgive their rebellion Those who have risen up against us since olden timesHave never had their moment of glory Until that time that our enemy is destroyedCharge, charge, together as oneDrawing our swords, glistening like a broken jewelWe must charge forth, determined to die Our divine nation's ways and the samurai'sBodies were defended by the spiritsThough thrown away after the restorationOur Japanese swords now and again may be carried Again in our era, our reputation returned;Enemy and ally together as oneMust die under the edge of the blade And to those with the Yamato spirit The time to die is nowDo not disgrace yourself with delay Until that time that our enemy is destroyedCharge, charge, together as oneDrawing our swords, glistening like a broken jewelWe must charge forth, determined to die As I look ahead, there is a swordTo my right and to my left, everywhere a swordTo climb a mountain of swordsThey say is a deed for the future Seeing this world from the top with my own eyesI climbed this mountain of swords Not for the sake of atoningFor the sins I have committed But for the sake of subjugating the rebelsThe mountain of swords — what does it matter? Until that time that our enemy is destroyedCharge, charge, together as oneDrawing our swords, glistening like a broken jewelWe must charge forth, determined to die The glint of light on a sword —Is it a flash of lightning between the clouds? The voice of the artillery firing in all directions —Is it the roar of the thunder? The ones defeated by the enemy's bladesOr those struck by the enemy's rounds —Their life ended, their bodies without a graveThe corpses piled up into a mountain Their blood streaming into a river —They go into certain death for the sake of the Emperor Until that time that our enemy is destroyedCharge, charge, together as oneDrawing our swords, glistening like a broken jewelWe must charge forth, determined to die Even amidst a rain of bullets The body of which there is no two, without regretCharges forward — myself, like the tempest'sGusts that blow away the white dew Should I meet my end unburiedFor loyalty's sake I will have died If it be that I die to that effectThen to death I will hold no grudge Those people who think they are as meDo not tread back one step Until that time that our enemy is destroyedCharge, charge, together as oneDrawing our swords, glistening like a broken jewelWe must charge forth, determined to die Now and here, my body is to dieFor the good of the emperor, the good of the countryDiscarded shall be our livesEven if our corpses may rot For our loyalty and composure, our namesEsteemed among the later generations Shall long be passed down by those who remainAs a warrior you were born — a life without worth And let nobody call you an immoral dogNor let them slander you as a coward Until that time that our enemy is destroyedCharge, charge, together as oneDrawing our swords, glistening like a broken jewelWe must charge forth, determined to die |