I have already mentioned that the name of Taki Rentaro, the
composer of the famous "Kojo no Tsuki" (The Moon over the Ruined
Castle), was officially assigned to the Minor Planet (8877). Following
this, Taki's most well-known work "Kojo no Tsuki" is going to
be Minor Planet (8957). Both of them were discovered at Geisel Observatory.
"Kojo no Tsuki" was composed by Taki for the words
written by Doi Bansui, when Taki was a student at a music school. It was
released only with a melody, but Yamada Kosaku is said to have added a
piano accompaniment and made some changes to the time and melody to match
it perfectly with the words. I believe there are only few songs which have
as deeply ingrained in the mind of Japanese people and made them nostalgic
as this song does. Incidentally, I was taught by Mr. T, who was a composer
and one of Yamada's students.
There are many episodes associated with "Kojo no Tsuki" and
I have fond memories of this song, too. At a historic meeting between General
Nogi Maresuke and Anatoly Mikhaylovich Stessel following the end of the
Russo-Japanese War in 1905, Nogi sang "Kojo no Tsuki" for entertainment
and Stessel admiringly said that, hearing this beautiful song, he was pleasantly
surprised there was such a great song in Japan. It is a well-known story
that in return he sent General Nogi a renowned white horse as a gift. Yoshie
Fujiwara, a famous Japanese opera singer, also sang this song in the U.S.
and Germany receiving the highest accolades.
When I was at the Fourth elementary school, Mr. Okamoto,
an excellent singer, sang us "Kojo no Tsuki". It was also this
song that to our surprise a Japanese language teacher with a beautiful
voice proudly sang at a junior high school concert. Although we always
sensed a smell of war around us, this song sounded romantic and peaceful.
The cherry blossoms have begun to fall replaced with new
green leaves. On a night of full moon in mid-April, I strolled around Kochi
castle. There is a saying in Japan that "a moment of a spring night
cannot be bought even with a million dollars" meaning "a moment
of spring night with a scent of flowers and misty moon is priceless."
The scene I saw is exactly what the saying says. Brightly lit walking paths
through the woods and inside the usually dark forest were flooded with
bright moonlight.
"Haru koro no hana no en,
Meguru sakazuki kage sashite...."
(In a spring evening at the feast viewing cherry blossoms high up in the castle,
Sake cups were passed around with moonlight shining upon sake...)
This beautiful song spontaneously overflowed from my mind.
The path along the rock walls of the castle glowed white hazily and looked
twice more distant than during the daytime. The moon was seen at the top
of a huge tree which seemed more than 100 years old. I heard the hoot of
an owl breaking the silence. Cherry flowers fell, an owl hooted, and then
flowers fell again. In a scene like this, walking on overlapping shadows
of tress, I wouldn't be surprised if a warrior with a hood and a sward
appeared and came toward you along the rock walls. I passed the dark pathway
sided with rock walls and came out into a garden. The sky brightened suddenly.
I saw the dark silhouette of the main castle against a golden colored sky.
The famous lyrics of "Kojo no Tsuki" must have been born in a
scene like this, I kept telling myself...
