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Shiretoko Love Song (Japanese: 知床旅情=Shiretoko Ryojō) is a love song whose words and music were made by Hisaya Morishige, related to the Shiretoko Peninsula of Hokkaido, Japan.
Contents
In General
To shoot a movie, Hisaya Morishige (1913-2009), a Japanese actor and comedian, stayed in Rausu Town in the Shiretoko Peninsula and made this song in 1960. It was first sung by Morishige himself before the town people of Rausu on his last day there.
The words of the song were later changed with its new title, "Okhotsk Boat Song". It was for the fishermen who could not return to Kunashiri Island because the Soviet Union moved and occupied this and other Kuril Islands in the Okhotsk Sea, two weeks after Japan's surrender of August 15, 1945. It was sung by Morishige himself and Chieko Baisho.
The lyrics of the song were further changed with its newer title, "Shiretoko Love Song". This version sung by Tokiko Kato became extremely popular, and single record was a million seller in Japan. She won the singer award of the 13th Japan Record Awards of 1971.
Shiretoko still continues to be one of the songs most often sung in Japan's karaoke now.
Lyrics
The current version of the song is composed of three stanzas. The first stanza can be translated as:
The second stanza, starting with "Tabi no nasake ni", translates:
The third stanza, starting with "Wakare no hi wa kita", can be translated: