benshi on record

[David Hopkins]

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From: 	Peter B. High
Sent: 	Monday, June 1, 1998 6:03 AM
To: 	KineJapan at lists.acs.ohio-state.edu
Subject: 	Re: benshi on record

<Chichi yo Anata wa Tsuyokatta> was indeed a famous Shina Jihen Gunka (China 
Incident
military song). The words were written by Fukuda Setsu, a major gunka 
lyricist, and
first recorded in 1939. A rough translation of the lyrics goes as follows:

O Father, you were strong
Your helmet scorched by searing flame
You sleep amid the bodies of the enemy
Sipping [your own] urine and gnawing on grasses
Through blasted mountains and rivers
Over many thousand ri you have forged onward [for us]

O Husband you were strong
In fearsome cold penetrating to the bone
How long, in creeks deeper than you are tall,
Did you endure [the deep-soaking wet]?
Was it ten days you went without food?
We honor you for the victory [you have gained for us]

O Elder Brother, O Younger Brother
Amid the shells, the floating mines, the raging torrent
Night and day the flagship proceeds
True to [your] name "wild eagle" [you] spread your wings
Not an enemy plane remains to be seen
We honor you for what you have accomplished

O Friend O Son of Mine
The saga of your valorous wounding
No matter how often I hear it, my eyes grow wet
On that day [my] child fell in battle
Today [he is] the cherry blossoms of Kudan [Yasukuni Shrine]
We honor you for blossoming thus

O the bravery of [all] those bodies
The one hundred million hearts of our people
Binding as into one--Yamato Damashii [the Japanese Spirit]
Now, as [against] the sky of the Continent
The Rising Sun flag, high and glistening,
I pray tearfully [to/before] an iron helmet

source: GUNKA TO SENJI KAYOU SHUU , Shinko Gakufu Shuppan, 1973



--
Peter B. High
j45843a at nucc.cc.nagoya-u.ac.jp


Yes, but what I have is this song used as punctuation in a story-telling 
performance in the benshi style, not just the song. Can you place the name 
Izumi Shiro (the "benshi")? I don't have any reference materials to check 
this. Anybody else have any ideas about what this medium was? Not radio 
drama.

David Hopkins
hopkat at sa2.so-net.or.jp

Any other "SP" (78rpm record) collectors on the list?