Chinsagu nu Hana

Shortly before my son was born, I put together a playlist of songs from Okinawa, Amami Ôshima, Hawaii, and elsewhere in the hope that having a set of soothing tunes I personally liked would make lulling my boy back to sleep on restless nights tolerable. 

Of the songs on that playlist, the most effective at getting my son to fall back asleep--he’s often out by the third verse--has been the Okinawan children’s song, Chinsagu nu Hana, sung by the sublime Rimi Natsukawa in the Ryûkyû (Okinawa) dialect. 

As the Chinsagu nu Hana is sung in the Ryûkyû dialect, it is for the average Japanese is unintelligible in spite of it being an extremely well known song. Whenever Natsukawa performs the song on TV, subtitles explaining the meaning of the song in standard Japanese are often included.

A word about the title of the song. Chinsagu nu hana is Okinawan for balsam flowers, or hôsenka in standard Japanese. Chinsagu (天咲) literally means “the flower that blooms in heaven” (ten ni saku hana, 天に咲く花). In olden times, children in Okinawa would squeeze the sap from balsam flowers to stain their fingernails as a way of warding off evil. “Parents” actually refers to all of one’s ancestors since the age of the gods, that is since the beginning of time.

While the song is said to contain some ten verses, the version I have provided here only continues until the sixth verse. The lyrics of the song convey Confucian teachings, with the first three stanzas are related to filial piety, the latter three to respecting one’s body and goals. Each verse contains the exact same number of syllables (8, 8, 8, 6) using language and meter devices that are unique to Okinawa. The lyrics have been translated fairly literally to preserve the meaning of the original.

てぃんさぐぬ花

Chinsagu nu Hana

1 
てぃんさぐぬ花や　
爪先（チミサチ）に染（ス）みてぃ 　
親（ウヤ）ぬゆし事（グトゥ）や　
肝（チム）に染（ス）みり 

（Romanized)
Chinsagu nu hana ya
Chimisachi ni sumichi
Uyanu yushi gutu ya
Chimu ni sumiri

（Standard Japanese）
ホウセンカの花は
(魔除けとして)爪先に染めなさい。
親の言うことは、
心に染めなさい。

（English Translation）
Dye your fingernails with the pigment of the balsam flower, 

Dye your heart with your parents’ words.

2 
天（ティン）ぬ群星（ムリブシ）や
読（ユ）みば読（ユ）まりゆい
親（ウヤ）ぬゆし言（グトゥ）や
読（ユ）みやならん 

（Standard Japanese）
天の群星は
数えようと思えば数えきれるけど、
親の言うことは、
数えられない。（それほど親の教えは限りがない） 

（Romanized）
Chin nuburi bushi ya,
Yumiba yuma riyui.
Uyanu yushigutu ya,
yumiyanaran

（English Translation）
Though you can count the stars in the sky if you wanted to,
You cannot count the teachings of your parents.

3 
夜（ユル）走（ハ）らす舟（フニ）や
子（ニ）ぬ方星（ファブシ）見当（ミア）てぃ
我（ワ）ん生（ナ）ちぇる親（ウヤ）や
我（ワ）んどぅ見当（ミア）てぃ 

（Standard Japanese）
夜、沖に出る舟は
北極星が目当て、
私を産んでくれた親は
私が目当て。（私を見守っている）
（Romanized）
Yuru harasu funi ya,
Ninu fabushi miachi
Wannacheru uyaya,
Wandu miachi

（English Translation）
The ships that sail at night are guided by the North Star,
I am guided by my parents who gave birth to and watch over me.　　

4 
宝玉（タカラダマ）やてぃん　
磨（ミガ）かにば錆（サビ）す 　
朝夕（アサユ）肝（チム）磨（ミガ）ち
浮世（ウチユ）渡（ワタ）ら 

（Standard Japanese）
宝石も
磨かなくては錆びてしまう
朝晩心を磨いて、
世の中を生きていこう。 

（Romanized）
Takaradama yachin,
Migakaniba sabisu
Asayu chimu migachi,
Uchiyu watara.

（English Translation）
Even jewelry will rust unless polished,
Polishing my spirit night and day, I traverse this transient world.

5

誠（マクトゥ）する人（ヒトゥ）や
後（アトゥ）や何時（イチ）迄（マディ）ん
思事（ウムクトゥ）ん叶（カナ）てぃ
千代（チユ）ぬ栄（サカ）い 

（Standard Japanese）
誠実に生きる人は
後はいついつまでも、
願いごともすべて叶い
永遠に栄えるのです。 

（Romanized）
Makutu suru hitu ya,
Atuya ichi madin.
Umukutun kanachi,
Chiyu nu sakai.

（English Translation）
All the wishes of those who live honestly will,
Be realized and they will prosper forever.

6 
なしば何事（ナングトゥ）ん
なゆる事（クトゥ）やしが
なさぬ故（ユイ）からどぅ
ならぬ定（サダ）み 

（Standard Japanese）
成せば何事も
成ることであるが、
成さぬ故に
成らないのだ。 

（Romanized）
Nashiba nan gutun,
Nayuru gutu yashiga,
Nasanu yui karadu,
naranu sadami.

（English Translation）
You can do anything if you put your mind to it,
But you can’t if you never try.

 

A few hints for reading the Okinawan dialect that I have gleaned from this song: ぬ (nu) is the possessive の (no); や (ya) is the subject marker は (wa, as in watashi-wa). て (te) becomes てぃ (chi); お (o) seems to be pronounced う (u), and similarly よ (yo) becomes ゆ (yu). Likewise, 事 (こと, koto) is グトゥ (gutu), and 夜 (yoru) is read ゆる (yuru). “K” is often pronounced “g”, so Tensaku becomes Chinsagu; “koto”, as we have already seen above “gutu”.

Interestingly, the Okinawan word for the Polaris (North Star) is 方星 (ファブシ, fabushi), with the “o” in “boshi” again becoming “u” here, bushi. What is remarkable about the word is the first character 方. In standard Japanese it is pronounced hô or katat/gata, but in the dialect it is “fa” which is closer to the way the character is pronounced in Chinese. This may, and I admit this is pure speculation on my part, be a vestige of the days when the Ryûkyû kingdom traded extensively with China and countries in southeast Asia. 

Finally, the conditional form,   which is usually formed by taking the root verb and adding ~ えば (--eba), such as すれば (sureba, if you do), 読めば (yomeba, if you read), 磨けば (migakeba, if you polish) becomes, すりば, ゆみば, みがかにば, respectively. That is, ~ えば becomes ~ いば. But don’t quote me on this. It’s just an observation.