Japan National Anthem — Kimigayo

"Kimigayo" is a poem of endurance. Its five lines wish that a reign — "kimi ga yo" — may continue for a thousand, then eight thousand generations, until tiny pebbles ("sazare-ishi") grow together into a great boulder covered in moss.

That image of pebbles slowly becoming a mossy rock is a metaphor for immense, almost geological spans of time and for lasting stability. Because the poem predates the modern nation, "kimi" has been read variously as "you", a beloved, or — in its role as anthem — the Emperor and the nation's continuity.

The words are an anonymous waka first collected in the Kokin Wakashū (c. 920). An initial 1869 melody by John William Fenton was discarded; the present melody was written in 1880 by court musicians Yoshiisa Oku and Akimori Hayashi, with Western harmonisation by Franz Eckert. It was made the legally official anthem by the 1999 Act on National Flag and Anthem.

At five lines and about a minute long, "Kimigayo" is famously spare and solemn. Its long history and imperial associations have made it, at times, a subject of debate in Japan, but its ancient poem and haunting melody remain unmistakably its own.

"Kimigayo" is the national anthem of Japan — among the oldest lyrics and the shortest of all national anthems. Its text is a classical waka poem from the Heian period, first recorded around 920.

The current melody was composed in 1880. Long in use, it became the legally official anthem only in 1999. Both text and melody are in the public domain.