君が代

Japanese
Kanji in this term
君 代
きみ
Grade: 3		 よ
Grade: 3
kun’yomi

Alternative forms
  • 君が世

Pronunciation

Etymology 1

From the 776th poem of the Wakan Rōeishū (c. 1013), in turn based on the 343rd poem of the Kokin Wakashū (905 CE):

わが君 (きみ)は千 (ち)代 (よ)に八 (や)千 (ち)代 (よ)にさざれ石 (いし)の巌 (いはほ)となりて苔 (こけ)の生 (む)すまで
waga kimi wa chiyo ni yachiyo ni sazare-ishi no iwao to narite koke no musu made
May our lord endure for a thousand, eight thousand long generations―may he live until pebbles grow into mossy boulders.[1]

Proper noun

君が代 (hiragana きみがよ, rōmaji Kimi ga Yo)

  1. the national anthem of Japan
    君 (きみ)が代 (よ)は千 (ち)代 (よ)に八 (や)千 (ち)代 (よ)にさざれ石 (いし)のいわおとなりて苔 (こけ)のむすまで
    kimi ga yo wa chiyo ni yachiyo ni sazare-ishi no iwao to narite koke no musu made
    May your majesty's reign for a thousand―even eight thousand―generations, until pebbles become boulders covered over moss.[2]

Etymology 2
Kanji in this term
君 代
きみ
Grade: 3		 よ
Grade: 3
kun’yomi

The 代 (yo) refers to lifespan.[3]

Phrase

君が代 (hiragana きみがよ, rōmaji kimi ga yo)

  1. (poetic) your age/era/generation
  2. (poetic) the era of a nobleman or ruler
    • 905–914, Kokin Wakashū (book 20, poem 1085)
      君 (きみ)が代 (よ)は限 (かぎ)りもあらじ長浜 (ながはま)のまさごの数 (かず)はよみつくすとも
      kimi ga yo wa kagiri mo araji Nagahama no masago no kazu wa yomitsukusu to mo
      The age of our lord will be without limit, though one count the sand, calling the grains one by one, down Nagahama's long shore.[4]
  3. (poetic) the emperor's reign
Derived terms
  • 君 (きみ)が代 (よ)に (kimi ga yo ni, pillow word)
  • 君 (きみ)が代 (よ)の (kimi ga yo no, pillow word)

Noun

君が代 (hiragana きみがよ, katakana キミガヨ, rōmaji kimigayo)

  1. (Can we verify(+) this sense?) boiled eggs mixed with white bean jam and red bean paste
  2. Synonym of 岩千鳥 (iwachidori): a species of orchid, Ponerorchis keiskei syn. Amitostigma keiskei
Derived terms
  • 君 (きみ)が代 (よ)蘭 (らん) (kimigayoran)

References
  1. Helen Craig McCullough (1985) Brocade by Night: Kokin Wakashū and the Court Style in Japanese Classical Poetry, Stanford University Press, →ISBN, page 444
  2. Roger K Thomas (2013), “Kimigayo (National Anthem)”, in Louis G. Perez, editor, Japan at War: An Encyclopedia, illustrated, reprint edition, ABC-CLIO, →ISBN, page 177
  3. 1995, 大辞泉 (Daijisen) (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan, →ISBN
  4. Edwin A. Cranston (1993) A Waka Anthology: Grasses of remembrance, Part A, Stanford University Press, →ISBN, page 9

Old Japanese

Alternative forms
  • 君が世

Etymology

The 代 (yo2) refers to lifespan.[1]

Phrase

君が代 (ki1mi1 ga yo2) (kana きみがよ)

  1. (poetic) your age/era/generation
    • c. 759, Man'yōshū (book 1, poem 10), text here
      君之齒母 吾代毛所知哉 磐代乃 岡之草根乎 去来結手名
      ki1mi1 ga yo2 mo waga yo2 mo siru ya ipasiro1 no2 woka no2 kusane wo iza musubite na
      The span of your life[,] and of my life too, is determined by the grass on Iwashiro Hill. Come, let us bind it together.[2]

Descendants

References
  1. 1995, 大辞泉 (Daijisen) (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan, →ISBN
  2. Gary L. Ebersole (1992) Ritual Poetry and the Politics of Death in Early Japan, Princeton University Press, →ISBN, page 233
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