The Dragon of Hida(飛騨の龍 Hida No Ryū) by Toba Ichirō(鳥羽一郎)

歌名: 飛騨の龍

唄: 鳥羽一郎

作詞: 柴田ちくどう

作曲: 原譲二

編曲: 丸山雅仁

発売日: 2015年1月07日

レコード会社: 日本クラウン

飛弾の匠と　言われる日まで

二度と木曽路の　地は踏まぬ

広い世間を　敵（かたき）に回し

頑固一徹　通した意気地（いきじ）

棄てて修行の　棄てて修行の

旅に出る

樵（きこり）三年　山出し二年

年季半（ねんきなか）ばじゃ　未だ雛（ひよこ）

屋根が傾く　掘っ立て小屋で

修羅のすがたで　仏像（ほとけ）をつくる

山岳（やま）の行者（ぎょうじゃ）の　山岳の行者の

技を見た

肌で覚えた　職人芸の

真の値打ちは　侘びと寂

固い檜の　一枚板に

彫って見せるぜ　命を懸けて

天下無双の　天下無双の

昇り竜

Utamei: Hida No Ryū

Uta: Toba Ichirō

Kashi: Shibata Chikudō

Sakkyoku: Hara Jōji

Henkyoku: Maruyama Masahito

Hatsubaibi: 1/7/2015

Reko-do gaisha: Nippon Kuraun

Hidano takumito iwareru himade

Nidoto kisojino chiwa fumanu

Hiroi sekenwo katakini mawashi

Ganko ittetsu tōshita ikiji

Sutete shugyōno sutete shugyōno

Tabini deru

Kikori san'nen yamadashi ninen

Nenki nakabaja mada hiyoko

Yanega katamuku hottategoyade

Shurano sugatade hotokewo tsukuru

Yamano gyōjano yamano gyōjano

Wazawo mita

Hadade oboeta shokuningeino

Shin'no neuchiwa wabito sabi

Katai hinokino ichimai'itani

Hotte miseruze inochiwo kakete

Tenkamusōno tenkamusōno

Nobori ryū

Song name: The Dragon of Hida

Singer: Toba Ichiro

Lyrics: Shibata Chikudo

Composer: Hara Joji

Arrangement: Maruyama Hasahito

Release Date: 1/7/2015

Record Label: Nippon Crown Co, Ltd.

Until the day I'm called Hida's master craftsman

I won't step on to the grounds of Kisoji*

I turn the entire world against me

Pride forced through by bulldog tenacity

Throw out and train, throw out and train

By going on a journey

Woodcutting three years, yamadashi** two years

Counting the years of apprenticeship, (I'm) still a greenhorn

The roof leans one way, at the shanty

With an appearance of an Asura, I make a Buddha

The mountain ascetic's, the mountain ascetic's

I saw his waza***

Learned by practice, the craftsmanship's

The true value is wabi and sabi****

A board made from the hard Japanese cypress

I will carve it, placing my life on the line

A peerless, a peerless

Rising dragon

*Kisoji is another name for Nakasendō, one of the two paths that connected Edo to Kyoto.

** Yamadashi is someone who carries goods from the mountain to villages.

***Waza means art and technique.

****Wabi and sabi represents a Japanese way to view the world based on the accepting imperfection and accepting the fact that nothing lasts for ever.

Please click the above picture to purchase the CD including a recording of this song from Amazon.com.

Toba Ichirō(鳥羽一郎)

Toba Ichirō(鳥羽一郎)'s father was a fisherman, and his mother was a shell diver. He himself also worked in the fishing business for five years, going to Panama and the Indian Ocean to catch thunnus (tuna) and skipjack. In this dangerous line of work, he often found peace with Funamura Tōru(船村徹)'s songs such as "Farewell at the Lone Japanese Cedar(別れの一本杉 Wakareno Ipponsugi)" and "Teary Boat(なみだ船 Namidabune)."

He originally worked to become a Japanese chef: he even has a cooking license. However, his younger brother found success in Tokyo as an enka singer. Unable to leave behind his dreams of singing professionally, he moved to Tokyo at the age of 27 and became a student under Funamura.

Three years later in 1982, he made his professional debut with "Siblings Boat(兄弟船 Kyōdaibune)" using his stage name created from his hometown, Toba City(鳥羽市) in Mie Prefecture. That year, he swept most of the newcomer's awards.

Most of his songs have lyrics about fishermen in the open sea, their fighting spirit, and the bonds fishermen develop on these difficult fishing journeys. As a result, his songs have become popular among the Japanese fishermen.

He has appeared on the Kōhaku Utagassen for twenty times, in 1985, from 1988 to 1993, and from 1995 to 2007(as of 2014).

This blog post translates information from the Wikipedia article 鳥羽一郎 which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0.