The Ode of Showa Restoration (昭和維新の歌, shōwaishin no uta) is a 1930 song by Japanese naval officer Mikami Taku.
It also references the tragic ancient Chinese hero Qu Yuan, a righteous official and poet of the doomed Chu State in pre-imperial China.
Mount Wu's peak is hazy with swirling clouds Alone I stand in this murky and turbid world My blood simmers in righteous anger 巫山の雲は乱れ飛ぶ 溷濁の世に我れ立てば 義憤に燃えて血潮湧く fuzan no kumo wa midaretobu kondaku no yo ni ware tateba gifun ni moete chishio waku Thinking nothing of this land and its fate Zaibatsu boast of their wealth but Have not hearts which think of the soil and grain[P 2] 国を憂ふる誠なし 財閥富を誇れども 社稷を思ふ心なし kuni o ureuru makoto nashi Zaibatsu tomi o hokoredomo shashoku o omou kokoro nashi The masses dancing blindly in the stupor of this world In this nightmare, a political din The world is reduced to a round of Go 盲たる民世に踊る 治乱興亡夢に似て 世は一局の碁なりけり meshiitaru tami yo ni odoru chiran kōbō yume ni nite yo wa ikkyoku no go narikeri The man[P 3] who marshals a righteous cause In his heart is the march of a million troops Ready to fall like ten thousand sakura blossoms 正義に結ぶ丈夫が 胸裡百万兵足りて 散るや万朶の桜花 seigi ni musubu masurao ga kyōri hyakuman hei tarite chiru ya banda no sakurabana One body among the wisps of clouds Standing up with concern for the nation the righteous man's ode begins 雲漂揺の身は一つ 国を憂ひて立つからは 丈夫の歌なからめや kumo hyōyō no mi wa hitotsu kuni o ureite tatsu kara wa masurao no uta nakarame ya The roar of the epoch is thundering now From the people's sleep, endless kalpa past Arise, Japan, at this morn's light!
そもただならぬ響あり 民永劫の眠りより 醒めよ日本の朝ぼらけ somo tadanaranu hibiki ari tami eigō no nemuri yori sameyo Nihon no asaborake Across the four seas, waves rage and crash The hour[P 4] of revolution is here and nigh Sweeping Japan like the winds of dusk 四海の水は雄叫びて 革新の機到りぬと 吹くや日本の夕嵐 shikai no nami wa otakebite kakushin no toki itarinu to fuku ya Nihon no yūarashi A labyrinth path the man must tread Of the splendors and praises in this dusty earth Whose high castle may yet be seen?
迷ひの道を人はゆく 栄華を誇る塵の世に 誰が高楼の眺めぞや mayoi no michi o hito wa yuku eiga o hokoru chiri no yo ni taga kōrō no nagame zo ya What is immutable is the truth alone Feeling the will and spirit of mortal life Who holds the keys to failure or success?