Uploaded April 2023 | Updated September 2026, 3 weeks ago

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Good day! This is a harmonium (pump organ) instrumental of the Japanese song “Umi Yukaba” (海行かば).

Spotify: open.spotify.com/artist/4vOLhhxFrWUyxjBCibfCC9?si=2MvYX4ZpQHSdGGCfl5SaKw
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The lyrics of the song are based on a poem written around 759 AD by Japanese poet Otomo no Yakamochi (718-785). The music was composed in 1937 by Kiyoshi Nobutoki (1887-1965), who was a Japanese composer, teacher, and cellist.

“Umi Yukaba” became popular in the Imperial Japanese Navy during World War II, and retained its popularity after the war. After the Japanese surrender, “Umi Yukaba” and other patriotic songs were banned by the Allied occupation forces. This ban was lifted with the signing of the Treaty of San Francisco in 1952, and patriotic songs experienced a mild boom in popularity. Today, “Umi Yukaba” is widely played in the Japanese military and specifically the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force.

Lyrics, transliteration, and translation below:

Lyrics:
海行かば
水漬く屍
山行かば
草生屍
大君の辺
にこそ死なめ
顧みはせじ


Latin Transliteration:
umi yukaba
mizuku kabane
yama yukaba
kusa musu kabane
okimi no hen
ni koso shiname
kaerimi wa seji


English Translation:
If I go away to sea,
I shall return a corpse awash;
If duty calls me to the mountain,
A verdant sward shall be my pall.
Thus for the sake of the Emperor,
I will not die peacefully at home.


German Version:
Geht es auf das Meer,
sinke zum Grunde mein Leib.
Geht es ins Gebirg,
wachse mir Gras auf dem Leib.
Herr, an deiner Seite zu sterben,
will ich niemals um