I’ve fallen victim to Hallyu in the past few months. This was the first song by KARA that I really liked (I heard the original Korean version over the summer), so I’d like to translate the Japanese version. I left out all of the hallos and catches because they just make the lyrics look messy.

Lupin (Japanese Version) Translation

Sing it with me now, 2010
We bringing new love to the floor
Rocking what’s real la couture
We opening new doors, new show, new world, new control
Can you keep up? Oh!

I can hear your heartbeat
Just accept the fact that it’s game over
If you rush, everything will vanish
Skillfully capture me

It’s mine
This is mine
This is mine

I’ve got the whole world in my hand now. Never back it up, never hesitate
Never hold out your hand

You won’t get many chances
And you’re closer than anyone else, so you can do it!
Repeating “I love you” is pointless
You’re getting closer to the secret

It’s mine
This is mine
This is mine

I’ve got the whole world in my hand now. Never back it up, never hesitate
Never hold out your hand

Be brave and step up, and piece by piece the world will be in your hand
If you’re serious now, start walking. Go a way, oh yeah yeah

I’ve got the whole world in my hand now. Never back it up, never hesitate
Never hold out your hand

I wish I was skillful enough to translate more all of HIMEKA’s songs~ Even though HIMEKA did not write the lyrics to this (though she did compose it!), I feel like she really believes in the lyrics.

La La La ~The World Into One~

My never-ending dream starts now
The sky of this sacred place is full of smiles
Although everyone says different things
When it comes to passionate feelings, everyone’s the same

The past, present, and even future are woven together
They’re living on here
Let’s exchange our own happinesses
So we can be connected by our love

La La La… You have friends all throughout the world
Let’s all clap together for this joy
La La La… Holding hands, one by one,
Let’s play a song of happiness

On nights I want to cry, on cloudy mornings too,
I can overcome them because everyone’s here
By putting on a smile and flapping my wings
I became strong when I realized this

When I’m worrying, progressing… Even going back and forth
I’ll never forget that first sparkle
I want to believe in my eternal dream

La La La… You have friends all throughout the world
Let’s all form a circle and make the future
La La La… Holding hands, one by one,
Let’s change the world into one

The past, present, and even future are woven together
They’re living on here
Let’s exchange our own happinesses
So we can be connected by our love

La La La… You have friends all throughout the world
Let’s all clap together for this joy
La La La… Holding hands, one by one,
Let’s play a song of happiness
La La La…

(Well, I’m assuming it’s Tsumibito just because that’s what one of the Chaku-uta sites said… But it could very well be Zainin. Please tell me if you find more evidence for either of these!)

On a positive note (as opposed to neutral one, or a negative one in the song below), this is definitely the fastest I’ve ever translated a song. Guess my classes are really paying off ♪

Sinner

I’m searching for light of hope
In the pitch black darkness here
Why, God?
Why did you pick her?

Even though important things
Were always right next to me
Please, God, save me
You’re always late when I’m praying

Ah, when I lost you, I finally realized
The reason you were here
Time stopped on that day
And erased the reason you were here

These words that I want to hear
Were already said by others
If you’re there, God
Return her to me immediately

Ah, when I lost you, I finally understood
The meaning of you being here
Time stopped for eternity
And erased all of the reasons for me to be here

I translated this a week or two ago and never got around to posting this. The only thing more amazing than this whole album (both discs of it even) is this specific song. The lyrics and feelings behind these lyrics are so beautiful that I really wanted to allow more people to appreciate them. And so here is the translation so that you may do so. It’s a response to their arguably most popular song “secret base ~Kimi ga Kureta Mono~”.

Fun fact: The lyrics reference the title of many other songs by the group. I counted 7 (in the order the appear in this song: 風の始まる場所、夢ノカケラ、白い花、僕の手紙、Ｈ・Ａ・Ｎ・Ａ・Ｂ・Ｉ、一緒にいたかった、secret base～君がくれたもの～), but I wouldn’t be surprised if I missed some since I’m a relatively new ZONE fan.

Promise～August, 10years later～

We talked about our fragments of dreams at the place where the wind starts
Where are you looking at this sky from now?

Even now, you’re trying to laugh while holding back “Farewell”…

We wished on summer’s shooting stars with the feelings that we couldn’t put into words
I’ll never forget the sight of you disappearing into the evening rain
You’re still next to me, even now

I gently held the white flower petals that danced in the night sky
You looked so happy

The words on my letter became smudged from tears, so now it’s still here…

The wind comes back around and the seasons pass, but our promise doesn’t fade
The fireworks I saw with you are being set off into this sky again now
“Aren’t they beautiful?” I wanted to show them to you this year for sure

I wanted to be with you because I can’t cry alone; is there nothing I can do by myself?
The things you gave me are still in my heart and haven’t changed even though it’s been 10 years
When I realized this, a single teardrop fell down my cheek

I’m moving on from that distant summer, but I won’t forget your last words
One day, we’ll definitely meet once again at the place we promised

The wind comes back around and the seasons pass, but our promise doesn’t fade
The fireworks I saw with you are being set off into this sky
“Aren’t they beautiful?” I wanted to show them to you this year for sure

I want to show the future I’ve drawn to you

I’ve finally completed the C;H visual novel! Overall I really enjoyed it, but the ending wasn’t that amazing in my opinion. Kind of a let down after all the awesomeness. I want to check out the bad endings later just to see if they’re any better.  There’s definitely a great nexus between this song and its respective route ending though. I usually only translate songs that don’t have a translation floating around on the Internet, but I really liked this song and wanted to translate it anyway. Now I’m going to start the anime just to make fun of how terrible it is.

(The blue sky) that I desire is your (wished for) sky
I draw (my feelings so they reach) your (sung of) future

Someone’s malice, a painful wound
To smile is to lie
The way to cut them up is inside of me
It’s an impluse I want to confirm

Vague (existences) slowly (get broken)
Even though it’s sorrowful (difficult)… Live

Even while getting soaked by the rain of blood
Even inside of the darkness
The sunlight’s warmth
Illuminates you
We can’t return to that miniature garden
If we cross over even space and time
We’ll surely struggle to reach it
Desire Blue sky

I seize (my prayers so they reach) your (desired) world

Increasing nightmares, depressing days
The way out is covered in chains
The answer is always inside of me
The contradictions challenge your true feelings

Even if you run (it’s pointless) slowly (you’ll be broken)
Even though it’s frightening (it’s painful)… Live

A world without boundary lines
In the threshold of gruesomeness
If I find hope there
I’ll give it to you
With unchangeable resolution
And unshakable strength
We’ll definitely imagine it
Desire Truth world

Even while getting soaked by the rain of blood
Even inside of the darkness
The sunlight’s warmth
Illuminates you
We can’t return to that miniature garden
If we cross over even space and time
We’ll surely struggle to reach it
Desire Blue sky

It’s been a while, huh? (Only over a year since my last song translation!) I’ve loved this song since I first heard it, and once I actually paid attention to the lyrics, I realized that they were pretty simple. This was definitely my second easiest song translation (Toeto was the easiest). It’s great when I only have to look up a few things. Oh, and I doubt anybody cares, but I’m officially signed up to start taking Japanese starting in September! Pretty excited.

My lovely thing is everything

I wonder since when I’ve been with you
I’ve been here for as long as I can remember because, well, this is all so natural that I feel at home

I wonder how long we’ve been here
If you can forgive me, stay by my side just like this, please

Ah, even if the night falls asleep, even if the darkness descends
My feelings won’t sleep, they can’t sleep

One… Right now, I’m kind of confused
Two… Probably, definitely, it’s that season, but
Three… I always want to feel you
It’s you, I’m fine with just that
My lovely thing is everything

Yesterday, today, and tomorrow are unchanging things
To confirm it, I close my eyes. See, that’s what’s inside of my heart

Ah, on this planet, everyone feels lonely, so
There’s nowhere to hide tears, nor is there a way

One… Your tender, long eyelashes
Two… Your voice that cracked a bit – I love them both
Three… Your tough heart that’s facing forward
It’s you, because you’re important to me
My lovely thing is everything

One… Right now, I’m kind of confused
Two… Probably, definitely, it’s that season, but
Three… I always want to feel you
It’s you, that’s the only sure thing
My lovely thing is everything

My lovely thing is everything

My lovely thing is everything

This article is not meant to be taken as the absolute, infallible truth. The sources and their statements are real. However, the purpose of this article is to compel readers to not trust any news source 100%, no matter how trustworthy the “brand name” of the source is, including this one. It’s possible that the three people interviewed have views differing from the general population of Tokyo. It’s also possible that the three people interviewed have views perfectly matching the general population of Tokyo. Question your secondary sources (or, in this case, possible tertiary sources due to translation of Japanese statements and news). When in doubt, find primary sources, like I have done in this article. Thank you very much to Chiho, Hal, and Sasaki for allowing me to interview them for this article. It’s a shame that journalism is in such a poor state that an unknown high school student has to correct such highly respected news sources.

Yet another misconception I’ve been seeing in western media (a misconception which is then transferred onto the viewers and I have even heard from people in real life) is that Tokyo City has completely shut down. While Tokyo City is, without a doubt, affected by the current situation, to say that it is falling apart or is a ghost town is incorrect. To help show this, I have translated an announcement from the Tokyo Metropolitan Board of Education. Like I said before, Tokyo City is not yet operating fully. I do admit that. However, western media is greatly exaggerating its current state. Please read the announcement below in order to see how Tokyo City schools are reacting to the planned power outages. I put this in bold because this document has nothing to do with Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant.

In this post: Failure of Western media for Touhoku earthquake, using social media to acquire information about major events in foreign countries, many links for official sites and streams related to the Touhoku earthquake. Beware of wall of text.

immi’s new album “Spiral” was released this week, and I was surprised with this mellow song. It’s quite different from most of her songs, but I really like it!

English

Shake off the rainbow, for an evening shower is coming
A pale rainbow floats to the surface
After the rain cloud wept,
It expected a rainbow in his dry hand
Moments of clear weather are becoming part of the past
Intended things went unnoticed as well

Monochrome
The expanding shadow
Vanished, washing him away
I forgot the password
To cure while watching from afar
Short lived rainbow
I’ll go looking for seven colors
Stand up at the start line

Romaji

Rainbow furi otosu yuudachi ga kuru
Rainbow usuku ukabi agaru
naita ato no ame gumo wo
megutta kare no te ni   kitaishita Rainbow
isshun no harema ga   kako to natteku
itoshita koto mo   kidzukenai

Monochrome
hirogaru kage wa
kare wo saratte kieta
ai kotoba wo wasureta no
tooku kara mitsume naoshite
Short lived rainbow
I’ll go looking for seven colors
suta-to rain ni tatte