Hello, I am Yoshi from NILS Japanese language school. Today’s topic is the Japanese anthem, Kimigayo 君が代.
It is surprising, but Kimigayo 君が代, the song customarily sang as the Japanese anthem, was formally designated as the national anthem in 1999. The words of Kimigayo were deprived from a waka poem in the Kokin-Wakashu 古今和歌集 and Wakanroeishu 和漢朗詠集 and the melody was composed by imperial court musician Hayashi Hiromori, and arraged by a German music teacher in Meiji Era. The words of Kimigayo, which express people’s wises about a long-lasting imperial system, are written in ancient Japanese so that man children don’t know the meaning of the song even though they often sing it during some school ceremonies. Today some people think that Japan should have a new national anthem because the status of the emperor changed after the war.

Following is the lyrics, and they can be roughly translated as “May you live long for thousands of years until moss forms on the surface of rocks.”

君（きみ）が代（よ）は
千代（ちよ）に八千代（やちよ）に
さざれ石（いし）の
いわおとなりて
こけのむすまで

March 15th News, from NILS Japanese language school.