I have here a Japanese song which I translated to filipino. I have entitled it it “Seresa” which is the equivalent of the Japanese counterpart.
Original
Sakura sakura
Yayoi no sora wa miwatasu kagiri
Kasumi ka kumo ka nioi zo izuku
Iza ya iza ya mi ni yukan
Seresa, seresa.
Ang langit ng tagsibol – sa abot ng paningin.
Hamog ba? O, ulap ba? Ang simoy ay lumabas!
Halika, halika masdan natin ‘to.
Revised(1941)
Sakura sakura
No yama mo sato mo miwatasu kagiri
Kasumi ka kumo ka asahi ni niou
Sakura sakura hana zakari
Seresa; seresa
Burol, bundok at parang-sa abot ng paningin.
Hamog ba? O, ulap ba? Halimuyak ng araw.
Seresa, seresa-namumukadkad.
For those who know English, I will add here vocabulary of both the original and the translation.
JAPANESE
Sakura – Cherry blossoms (when referred to the tree itself, its Sakuragi)
Yayoi – This is equivalent to march in japanese lunar calendar or spring time.
No – Possessive particle of the sentence.
Sora – Sky
Wa – Written as “ha” and pronounce as “wa”, this is the topic marker.
Miwatasu – From “miru”(to see) and “watasu”(to pass over). When combined, it means to pass one’s sight over a panorama.
Kagiri – Limits or bounds.
Yayoi no sora wa miwatasu kagiri – May mean something like “In the spring’s sky, pass one’s sight far and wide”.
Kasumi – Mist
Ka – In this case, it is something like “or”.
Kumo – Cloud
Ka – Same as the first.
Nioi – Smell or aroma.
Zo – Used as an emphasis.
Izuku – It could mean the origin of the smell.
Kazumi ka kumo ka nioi zo izuku – This could mean “Is is mist of is it cloud, the origin of the fragrance”.
Iza – Something like “what are we waiting for? let’s go”.
Ya – This signals a shift in thought.
Mi – Back to “miwatasu”, the “mi” here is also the “mi” of “miwatasu”.
Ni – I think in this case it indicate the matter of doing things.
Yukan – Leisure
Iza ya iza ya mi ni yukan – This may mean like “ok, ok, let’s relax by looking at something.
No – Field or prairie.
Yama – Mountain
Mo – Also
Sato – Countryside
Mo – Same as above.
Asa