Lyr Add: Silent Night/ Japanese: Sei Naru Yoru Ni

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Silent Night/ Japanese: Sei Naru Yoru Ni
From: masato sakurai
Date: 27 Dec 08 - 02:07 AM

Haruo is right. "Seinaru yoru ni," which means "On the holy night," is the title given to the video, not to the song.

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Silent Night/ Japanese: Sei Naru Yoru Ni
From: Haruo
Date: 27 Dec 08 - 02:04 AM

Yep, that's what I said. "Sei naru yoru ni" might be the name of a Christmas program or something, but it's not the name of "Silent Night".

My current goal is to learn Silent Night in Burmese, and if possible in Kyrgyz.

Haruo

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Silent Night/ Japanese: Sei Naru Yoru
From: Genie
Date: 27 Dec 08 - 01:04 AM

Well, that's how the original Stille Nacht, as well as the English version, Silent Night, are titled.

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Silent Night/ Japanese: Sei Naru Yoru Ni
From: Haruo
Date: 26 Dec 08 - 08:13 PM

Masato can correct me if I'm wrong, but I think the answer is, yes, Sei naru yori ni means more or less "On this holy night", but the usual way of naming the song in Japanese is (as in English and German, for that matter) by its opening words, "Kiyoshi kono yoru" (cf "Silent Night", "Stille Nacht").

Haruo

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Silent Night/ Japanese: Sei Naru Yoru
From: Genie
Date: 26 Dec 08 - 08:07 PM

Oh, and Q, I don't find it particularly odd to hear people sing versions of Silent Night (Stille Nacht), whether they are Christian or not.   A lot of people enjoy hearing and/or singing the song just as art (music), regardless of their religion.   (E.g., both Neil Diamond and Barbra Streisand have Christmas albums.) And a lot of Christians enjoy hearing or singing songs from other religious traditions (e.g., Judaism, Hinduism) as well.

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Silent Night/ Japanese: Sei Naru Yoru
From: Genie
Date: 26 Dec 08 - 07:32 PM

Thanks for the correction, Masato.
I got the title and info from YouTube - a source which, as we know, occasionally gives us less than 100% correct info. LOL

Maybe Joe O. can fix the song title and thread title?

Is "SEI NARU YORU NI" correctly translated "On This Holy Night?" - but not the song title?

Also thanks for the link you posted.

Genie

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Silent Night/ Japanese: Sei Naru Yoru Ni
From: Haruo
Date: 26 Dec 08 - 02:31 PM

Minnasan, bokushingu-dei omedetou gozaimasu yo!

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Silent Night/ Japanese: Sei Naru Yoru Ni
From: Haruo
Date: 25 Dec 08 - 03:54 AM

Also, those looking for Christmas carols in Japanese might look beyond the Sanbika line of hymnals. In particular I enjoy some of the ones in Seika, such as "O deued pob Cristion", "Let joy your carols fill", and the full 15 stanzas of "Vom Himmel hoch".

Haruo

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Silent Night/ Japanese: Sei Naru Yoru Ni
From: Haruo
Date: 24 Dec 08 - 04:15 PM

For anyone interested in Japanese hymns (available to be) sung in English translation, there is a lot of information (dated 2002) on this webpage.

Haruo

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Silent Night/ Japanese: Sei Naru Yoru Ni
From: Haruo
Date: 24 Dec 08 - 01:55 PM

There are also original Japanese Christmas hymns and carols, some of which are sung in English in the United States (several denominations' hymnals include "Hitsuji wa nemureri" = "Sheep fast asleep", and at least one, the Presbyterian, contains "Kurisumasu" = "Joyful Christmas Day is here"); the Epiphany hymn "Mabune no naka ni" (several English translations, including "In a lowly manger born") is also usable for Christmas. And there are Japanese (and at least one Okinawan) Christmas hymns and carols in the Japanese hymnals that have not yet made it into English, but look worth trying.

Haruo

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Silent Night/ Japanese: Sei Naru Yoru
From: Greenacres
Date: 24 Dec 08 - 09:16 AM

Just for the record: I have just come back from Christmas Eve Mass in Japanese at my local church (N Kyoto). The melodies of Silent Night and Joy to the World both featured, sung in Japanese. The priest (from Quebec) mentioned that many of the congregation would be visiting temples and shrines over the festive period and that that was 'zehi' - to be encouraged - that we should embrace our god always and everywhere. The service began around a small bonfire in the garden, from which we lit candles and processed to church along the street. After that there was fruit cake (made by the priest) and coffee. Some people wore kimonos and lace headcoverings. I didn't take any pix but I recorded it - PM me if you are interested.

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Silent Night/ Japanese: Sei Naru Yoru Ni
From: Haruo
Date: 23 Dec 08 - 10:45 PM

Christianity has a long history in Japan, going back at least to the period before the Tokugawa shogunate closed the country to most trade and tourism. (There is also some reason to believe that the Tea Ceremony may be in part an adaptation of the Eucharistic meal, perhaps in the form in which it was brought to China by the Nestorians more than a thousand years ago.)

I remember hearing Christmas carols (don't recall if it was specifically Kiyoshi kono yoru) in the classic Japanese TV series Kita no kuni kara ("From the North Country").

Christianity has had an influence in Japan much greater than the percentage of the population that officially "belongs to a church" or "has been baptized" would suggest; consider, for example, the fiction of Shusaku Endo. And Gallup polls of the Japanese population suggest that despite the churches' failure to account for more than 1% of the population (and even that tiny slice of the pie has shrunk in the past half-century), as many as 8 to 10% of the Japanese surveyed self-identify as, in some sense, Christians or followers of Christ. When I was a kid in Tokyo (1967-68) a large percentage, probably a majority, of the kids in the neighborhood attended Sunday School at our local (Tomizaka Kyokai) church, which was run by the German East Asia Mission and affiliated with the Free Church of Leipzig, I believe, despite the fact that they and we all took part, too, in the local Shinto festivals (taiko banging and whatnot) and their parents returned a Communist deputy to the Diet... It's a very "fusion-oriented" culture.

On top of that, the secular Christmas of Santa et al is big business in Japan, along with the even more significant New Year. So there's nothing particularly odd about "Silent Night" being sung in Japanese, imo.

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Silent Night/ Japanese: Sei Naru Yoru Ni
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 23 Dec 08 - 09:56 PM

Masato, a nice presentation. It does seem odd, however, to hear the song in Japanese since only about one percent of the population is Christian.

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Silent Night/ Japanese: Sei Naru Yoru Ni
From: masato sakurai
Date: 23 Dec 08 - 03:39 AM

Genie, Meri Kurisumasu. "Sei Naru Yoru Ni" isn't the title of the song. It is called "Kiyoshi kono yoru."

Listen to another translation on YouTube: Ken Nishikiori [male] & Maki Mori [female] sing 'Kiyoshi Kono yoru.'

Masato

Subject: Lyr Add: Silent Night/ Japanese: Sei Naru Yoru Ni
From: Genie
Date: 23 Dec 08 - 03:05 AM

SEI NARU YORU NI (On This Holy Night)

(Instrumental)

Kiyoshi kono yoru (On this pure night)
hoshi wa hikari (the stars shimmer with light.)
Sukui no miko wa, (Child who will save us,)
mihaha no mune ni, (Sleep at your mother's breast,)
Nemuritanmou yume yasuku (dreaming peacefully).

Kiyoshi kono yoru (On this pure night)
Mitsuge ukeshi (they receive a message).

Makibitotachi wa miko no
Mimae ni (The shepherds bow in respect.)
Nukazukinu kashiko mite (before the child)

Instrumental break

Kiyoshi kono yoru (On this pure night_
miko no emi ni (the child's smile_
Megumi no miyo no (shines brightly)
ashita no hikari (with the light of tomorrow)
kagayakeri hogaraka ni (in an age of brightness).


Instrumental break

Merri Kurisumasu (Merry Christmas)

Instrumental finale