Of "Tabi no Tochuu/En Route on the Journey"
(Vocals: Kiyoura Natsumi; Lyrics Komine Koko; Composition & Arrangement: Kira Tomohiko)
(English translation: atashi.wordpress.com)


Dearest Yumi,

Where have the times gone of late? When shall we ever meet within the journey of these days? The roads since months ago have become convoluted, where I grew lost all alone. Sometimes there is an unfamiliar emptiness, where the time passing by seem to be of a dream and where only my heart wandered and stood still  in a brief moment of clarity. Then the time would come rushing back in as a flood and once again the roads swim before my steps.

I wonder if I may meet that person someday, that presence who may rule over these strange currents. If only there were such a person by my side now, so that I may look up into warm eyes and say, "It seemed endless before, but now I can."

I wonder where on Earth that person is on this night? May I be so bold as to wish that the person is you, Yumi? You, whom I have created from realities to treasure in my most forgotten memories?

Can it be that we shall meet, Yumi, so we may talk heart-to-heart? So that I may look up and say, "I am sure now of this road where I can walk very far towards the horizon. That's right, after I met you the way has begun to clear; when I look ahead to where the sky and earth embraces on this road."

Or is that person another stranger that I fear to know? Does that person stand ahead on the roads in a clearing? The thought frightens me, Yumi, so that I wish to cling to your intangible arms and stand still. But there is a buzzing in my head that urges me forward, forward.

To the shadow of a figure on the road.

There are words circling in my head, forming thoughts like unknown songs that arouse brief fancies, like expressions that travelers sing to drive away the loneliness of the roads. Why do I think of these words that I do not remember knowing? I think it rather absurd. Yet they sound familiar to me in the ways of childhood rhymes. Is this some spell that I have unknowingly cast upon myself in the dark moments when I wished: "If I'm just with you"?

If on this road that I walk without recognizing I shall reach a conclusion, oh, if the world that I dreamed of long ago exists somewhere in this dimension, I want to grab your unknown hand and ask, "Then shall we go search for it?"

Because I do not know this road that I am forced to travel, so take me to the other side of the wind. Surely the answer lies over the far hills where the sky and Earth embrace. So let's go see the end of the distant world, over the next river, over the next hill, over the next valley, over the next mountain. Beyond the freezing daybreaks, underneath the parched middays...Can I ask you for so much, stranger and companion, through the turning days and shiver dark nights?

In the day. I have a simple dream that is too childish for my years, but I still wish to look up into your eyes as we pause on the road. In these orbs that know of loneliness, shall our tears brim over and flow down dusty cheeks? I would cry no tears of sadness, but tears of relief, because they're dazzling. Your eyes. I would reach over and touch your face so I may remember. Your eyes. I would kiss gently and brush away the dust. Your eyes, that are alive and reflect that color.

In the night. I have a simple whim that is too strange for my years, but I still with to lay against the earth close by you as we rest on the road. In these minds that know weariness, shall our dreams reach beyond fatigued minds? I would that I fly high to the sky, and become the crescent moon. Your heart. If I should fall down the ravines of sleep that I fear, I still wish to guard your road. Your heart. I would light quietly and shimmer through the dark. Your heart, would it recall me?

Even if in vain, I shall comfort myself, thinking that the mint-colored stars are surely a little of yourself, that the fragments of tears fell from your thoughts of a missing someone.

To the harbor of the eastern country, to the western seaside, may I be so selfish to ask this journey of you, stranger and companion? I have such greediness in the dark forest, that leaks over into mysteries of the southern city and wanders into the misty lies of some legend of a golden tower. Yet would you still come, stranger, with this other stranger, to the white snows of the northern hill?

Oh, stranger, stranger, if you should come, shall we then greet as companions when we reach the same moon that swayed in the water once in our dreams? Oh, I would that we do.

Because if it's okay for me to hold onto this road that I do not recognize, I would grasp your outstretched hand with a faithful grip. Because if it's okay for me to hold onto you on this road, I would look up and ask you, "Then where shall we go?" If it should be so, together with you, together on this road, perhaps we can go anywhere.

Oh, shadow on the road ahead, whose name I cannot speak - Yumi, is that you, or a stranger that I fear to meet? Yet let it be as if by instincts - let's go embrace the incoming breeze and meet the commotion and aroma on the tailwind.

Of the world still unseen, of the unknown road that we travel, let us find each other en route of this journey...



Yours,
Katana

January 19, 2009

Tabi no Tochuu
Vocals: Kiyoura Natsumi

Tada hitori
Mayoikomu tabi no naka de
Kokoro dake samayotte tachitsukushita
Demo ima wa   tooku made
Arukidaseru
Sou kimi to   kono michi de
Deatte kara

Tabibito-tachi ga utau
Mishiranu uta mo
Natsukashiku kikoete kuru yo
Tada kimi to iru to

Yumemita sekai ga
Dokoka ni   aru nara
Sagashi ni   yukou ka
Kaze no mukou e
Itetsuku yoake no
Kawaita mahiru no
Furueru yamiyo no
Hate o mi ni yukou

Sabishisa o shitte iru
Kimi no hitomi
Mabataite   sono iro o
Utsusu kara

Takaku sora made tonde
Mikkazuki ni naru
Hakka-iro no hoshi wa kitto
Namida no kakera

Higashi no kuni no minato   nishi no umibe
Kurai mori de   minami no machi   kin no tou
Kita no oka   mizu ni yureteta onaji tsuki ga

Sashidasu sono te o
Tsunaide ii nara
Doko made yukou ka
Kimi to futari de
Doko e mo yukeru yo
Mada minu sekai no
Zawameki   kaori o
Dakishime ni yukou

旅の途中
歌:清浦夏実
作詞:小峰公子
作曲:吉良知彦
編曲:吉良知彦

ただひとり
迷い込む旅の中で
心だけ彷徨って立ち尽くした
でも今は　遠くまで
歩き出せる
そう君と　この道で
出合ってから

旅人たちが歌う
見知らぬ歌も
懐かしく聴こえてくるよ
ただ君といると

夢見た世界が
どこかに　あるなら
探しに　行こうか
風のむこうへ
凍てつく夜明けの
渇いた真昼の
ふるえる闇夜の
果てを見に行こう

寂しさを知っている
君の瞳
まばたいて　その色を
映すから

高く空まで飛んで
三日月になる
ハッカ色の星はきっと
涙のかけら

東の国の港　西の海辺
暗い森で　南の街　金の塔
北の丘　水に揺れてた同じ月が

差し出すその手を
つないでいいなら
どこまで行こうか
君と二人で
どこへも行けるよ
まだ見ぬ世界の
ざわめき　香りを
抱きしめに行こう