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

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…

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

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

(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

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

     In the wake of the March 11, 2011, Japanese earthquake (and later tsunami) off the coast of the Touhoku region of Japan, western media has become borderline sensationalist in their reports, especially in their reports of Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant. Sources generally considered extremely reliable by Americans are no exception. Such sources have at times reported misinformation of varying degrees, from the somewhat minor but still appalling mistake of reporting the earthquake on the Richter scale when it was actually measured on the moment magnitude scale (ABC) to reporting that a total meltdown has already occurred (CNN).

     The most recent topic of discussion, however, is Tokyo. In order to conserve power, the heavily relied on train routes have been shortened and residents try to use lights and heating less. However, western media is still greatly exaggerating the situation in Tokyo, even saying that people are fleeing the city (AP).

     “The majority of people are staying in Tokyo,” Hal, an engineer who lives in Tokyo, said. “According to the (Japanese) news, the nuclear radiation from Fukushima is not strong, so it’s not dangerous to humans.”

     Schools and workplaces are also still operating. In a press release published by the Tokyo Metropolitan Board of Education on March 14, they described the school closing procedures. The published procedures indicate that no regular secondary school will be closed for a full day due to the planned power outages. A full translation of the document can be read here for more detailed information.

     “Until two or three days ago, there were some people who stayed home or went to work at a different time,” Chiho, a Tokyo resident and mother of two, said before leaving for work herself. “But I think today (March 16) the situation has mostly calmed down and people go to work as usual.”

     Hal conveyed a similar situation. “Our company started working on March 14, but not every worker could get to the company that day because the trains weren’t moving.” Hal said. “Now, most of the trains are moving, so we can go to our company.”

     Stores are also opening, contrary to the reports that Tokyo has completely shut down and is a ghost town (Reuters).

     “Most of the stores open, but they close earlier than usual,” Chiho said. “There are fewer customers at most of the stores besides grocery stores and drugstores.”

     The image of empty grocery store shelves has also become symbolic of the current situation (AP Images).

     “Grocery stores announce that they are lacking products,” Chiho said, “and ask us not to buy more than we really need.”

     However, this shortage is not occurring in all parts of Tokyo. The Tokyo metropolitan area is quite large, 5,310 mi² (13,754 km²). In comparison to two well-known American cities, it is between the size of Boston (4,511mi²) and New York City (6,720 mi²).

     “Immediately after the earthquake, bread, rice and noodles sold out,” Sasaki, a web designer who lives in Tokyo, said. “But now there is enough food in the stores.”

     Yet another popular (but still incorrect overall) report is that “malaise has descended on Tokyo as potential nuclear meltdown looms,” (The Telegraph) or some similarly written phrase implying that Tokyo is in a state of mass hysteria.

     “The nuclear plant makes us anxious, but we watch over it calmly,” Sasaki said. “In Tokyo, there was some confusion about the rolling power outages, but there is no major confusion or panic.”

Many thanks to someone who has yet to tell me by which name they wish to be referenced for helping me understand and translate the difficult parts. Also thanks to Ema for answering my question regarding the possible copyright of this material as well as for helping me translate a small section. Hmm… now that I think about it, it’s kind of odd that I actually cared about the copyright considering everything else I’ve posted on this blog! Well, here’s one of my extremely rare non-infringing posts.

Original document available at http://www.kyoiku.metro.tokyo.jp/press/pr110314j-1/pr110314j-1.pdf

Anything italicized (like this text is right now) is a supplemental explanation. It is not in the original document but may help you understand.

Tokyo Metropolitan Board of Education’s Response to TEPCO’s Planned Power Outages Due to the “Touhoku Region Pacific Ocean Offshore Earthquake”

Published March 14, 2011 (the Monday after the earthquake)

I. Classes

1. Metropolitan high schools with full-day curriculum, metropolitan high schools attached to junior high schools, and metropolitan secondary education schools (basically all normal high schools)

A. In the event of a planned power outage in the morning, afternoon classes will still take place.

Furthermore, if this takes place on days when no afternoon classes were scheduled, morning classes may be rescheduled for the afternoon.

B. In the event of a planned power outage in the afternoon, morning classes will take place and then students will be dismissed.

C. In the event of a planned power outage straddling noon (partially in the morning, partially in the afternoon), students will be dismissed when the power outage starts.

2. Metropolitan high schools with part-time curriculum (the part-time academic classes for those in vocational schools)

In the event of a planned power outage after 5 pm, assume that there will be a temporary closing.

3. Metropolitan special education schools

A. Schools with planned power outages starting before 12:20 pm

Due to the difficulty of providing lunches and out of concern for the students’ safety and well-being, assume that there will be a temporary closing.

B. Schools without planned power outages starting before 12:20 pm

Lunch will be served and students will be dismissed no later than 1:30 pm.

II. Club activities

When there is a planned power outage in the morning but afternoon classes still take place, after school club activities are allowed to take place until 5 pm. All students must leave by 5:30 pm.

III. Power conservation

1. Lighting

A. Classes and hallways will not be unnecessarily lit.

B. Use of gymnasiums for club activities will be restricted.

C. Use of lighting on sports grounds will be restricted.

2. Utilities/Devices

A. Air conditioning use will be temporarily suspended.

B. Vending machine use within schools will be temporarily suspended.

C. Some elevators will be suspended.

D. During outages, tap water supply is limited to that of rooftop water tanks. When the water supply is not working, pool water will be used for sanitation purposes.

E. Before outages, make sure to back up electronic equipment. After power has been restored, perform routine checks for safety and usability.

IV. Other

If there is a planned power outage at the same time as a graduation ceremony, out of concern for safety, times will be adjusted in a flexible manner.

Failure of Western Media in Covering Japan

Within 6 to 12 hours of the Touhoku earthquake, I began to recognize the essential failure of American news coverage of the event. CNN, probably regarded as America’s most reliable (or least failing?) national, 24/7 news channel, was repeating the same few clips from NHK with little to no new information. They talked to an American tourist in Japan via telephone, but that was about the extent of their original Japanese coverage besides the fact that an earthquake happened.  They called officials in Hawaii to report on their preparations, and they talked to someone from the White House. But there was more random American talk than actual news updates on the situation in Japan. They had access to NHK live but did not always show it. When they did show it, it rarely was given the full screen and never had any audio. Even without understanding Japanese, the live NHK feed would have been much more useful than their random blabbering.

In the following days, I also heard of the failures of European coverage.  German news specifically seemed to be overreacting according to various social media sources (see, this article could even be “Learning About Failure News Reports via Social Media”). They were claiming Fukushima Nuclear was either as bad or worse than Chernobyl but this is not the case.

Western media in general now seems to be reporting misinformation or even cleverly leaving out key pieces of information. Last night, NBC (American TV station) aired a special about the situation in Japan. They mentioned that radiation was detected at Onagawa Nuclear but left out the fact that this radiation was supposedly blew (in the wind) from Fukushima Nuclear. Two or three nights ago (sorry if I get days wrong; lately I’m mixing up last night EST, two nights ago EST, and last night Japan), ABC (another American TV station) aired a similar news special. At the very beginning of the special, they reported that the earthquake was “8.8 magnitude on the Richter scale.” This was before the magnitude was corrected, so the number was correct. However, the major error here is the unit of measurement. It was not Richter scale. All of the magnitudes that you have heard (previous 8.8, updated 9.0, even aftershock magnitudes) are on the moment magnitude scale. I was told that this earthquake on the Richter scale would have less than a 0.5 magnitude difference, but I think that it is an extremely basic failure to report it on the wrong scale. Just because the American public is more familiar with the term “Richter scale” (I say term because few people probably actually understand the scale, including myself) does not mean it should be slapped on out of laziness or assumption.

I could really go on and on about the American media failures that I’ve witnessed (and had to verbally correct for my household), but the brick of text above is not what I wanted to write about. I don’t know how all of that ended up there! I apologize.

What I wanted to write about is how to use social media to receive accurate information about situations in foreign countries, especially if you do not understand that country’s language. If you do understand the country’s language but are simply residing elsewhere, this post will still be helpful to you. Most of the information that I’ve received via social media has been real-time updates. That is to say that the updates I’ve received are at more or less (sometimes delayed 30 seconds or so depending on the source) the same time as the update occurs in Japan.

Foreign Disaster Info via Social Media

As I walk you through this, I’m going to use Japan as an example since the events in Japan were what prompted me to use social media as a source and hence what prompted me to write this.

First, you need to gather some basic news information about the country involved. Find out the major news sources in the country. As a weeaboo, I already knew the major news sources of Japan, but I’ll try to give ways to find this information. If you know someone living in the country or someone who has lived in the country long-term at some point in their life, try asking them. If they lived their for a long time, they more than likely watched the news at some point! Googling “japanese news stations” seemed to be useful; the first result is a Wikipedia article for “Japanese News Network” which is indeed one of the major news stations in the country. Scrolling past random streaming sites that I’ve never heard of leads to a link for “NHK WORLD English.” This is useful too. NHK is another major Japanese station, and NHK World translates some of their broadcasts. NHK World is not always live, but during major live conferences, they do translate the conference live with minimal delay.

Once you find out some major news stations of the country involved, try to find out if they are officially streaming live anywhere. Go to the stations’ sites and look for some of the following things: an embedded media player, a menu button or text link that says something like “LIVE” or “WATCH NOW” (even if it is a country that doesn’t speak English, they may still use these words), buttons or links to sites that have the ability to stream live (USTREAM, YouTube, maybe even a video site in another language that is popular in the country). For Japan, TBS’ (the Tokyo branch of Japanese News Network) news site has a button linking to USTREAM. NHK also has live streaming buttons (with Japanese text) on their front page for USTREAM, Nico Nico Douga (a popular Japanese video site), and even Yahoo Japan. They also have English buttons for NHK WORLD streaming on USTREAM and Nico Nico Douga. NHK WORLD’s own page has an embedded live stream. Although the buttons on TBS and NHK have their text written in Japanese, hovering over the button should display the URL that it links to in almost all browsers. So when in doubt, try hovering over every link and button on the front page and look for familiar video sites.

If the major news stations of the country don’t seem to have any official streams, try searching on USTREAM (or any other popular live streaming sites that you may know of) for the name of the channel to see if anybody is personally streaming the channel. I actually found someone personally streaming NHK before I found out that they had an official stream.

If you’ve found a stream of a major news station in the country, you’re already ahead of your own country’s media probably. Even without understanding the country’s language, you can probably draw conclusions about the most important updates. If the current news report seems to end randomly or the news reporter suddenly stops talking and switches to another video feed, it’s possible that something new is happening or has just happened. Even though I don’t understand any of the Japanese talk about Fukushima Nuclear, when Daiichi No.3 experienced a hydrogen explosion, NHK cut to a very recent video of the plant. There was an explosion and the on-screen text included a lot of Japanese and then the number 3. It was easy to interpret the very basics of what had happened. However, while I encourage you to attempt some interpretation, if you do not speak the language and try to draw conclusions, please do not broadcast your supposed discovery via Twitter, Facebook, etc. unless you are absolutely sure of the situation. This is how misinformation gets spread. Please do not contribute to the probably already overwhelming amount of misinformation.

Now let’s try to find some fast English-language sources. Since you’re reading this huge post, I assume you’re able to read English! You can try to follow these steps for your own language if you speak another language, but it might be more difficult. First, see if the streaming site you are on has some kind of chat or social media integration. It’s possible that someone in there is already translating the important parts of the stream into English. If nobody is doing so, try kindly asking in English if someone can translate some of the recent news. Some kind Japanese people on NHK’s USTREAM have been randomly translating at some parts. And if they are online, some of them will start translating again if you ask. They don’t want to translate if nobody needs it at the moment though, so it’s OK to ask as long as you are respectful about it!

If a kind person (or sometimes even multiple people) has started translating for you and fellow worldwide viewers, that’s great! You can now get almost instantaneous updates. But maybe you want a little more than 100-character translations of random parts. Well, we can try, but even I did not expect this to be possible for the situation in Japan. I never expected something like this to happen really. I don’t know how often it would happen for other countries, but you can at least try. Try looking for independent (unaffiliated to news stations) people constantly translating new information live via social media sites such as USTREAM (on their own channel, not just translating in chat), Twitter, or even blogs. A day or so after the earthquake took place in Japan, I learned of the wonderful USTREAM channel “Yokoso News.” Katz, the channel owner, has been translating press conferences and other new information live on the air for at least 12 hours for the past three or four days. Many of his viewers, myself included, are extremely grateful for his tremendous work. Hopefully, in the event of future disasters in other countries (although I truly hope that such disasters would not even happen), an independent person in the country will do something similar.

Useful Links for Current Japanese Info

NHK Official Site
NHK Official Twitter
NHK Official “On Air” Twitter (Streaming updates)
USTREAM for NHK
Nico Nico Live for NHK
Yahoo GyaO! for NHK
Twitter Hashtag for NHK

NHK Educational Official Site (Not useful for earthquake info, but in case you need it…)
Yahoo GyaO! for NHK Educational
Unofficial USTREAM for NHK Educational (Official turned off, supposedly to conserve power?)

NHK Radio 1
NHK Radio 1, alternate version (Both Radio 1 links are official; try this if first doesn’t work)

NHK WORLD Official Site
USTREAM for NHK WORLD
Nico Nico Live for NHK WORLD
Twitter Hashtag for NHK WORLD

TBS News Official Site
TBS News Official Twitter
USTREAM for TBS
Nico Nico Live for TBS
Youtube for TBS
Twitter Hashtag for TBS

Yokoso News Official Site (Do not mass refresh if it doesn’t work at first)
Yokoso News Official Twitter
USTREAM for Yokoso News
Twitter Hashtag for Yokoso News

TEPCO (Tokyo Electric Power Company) Official Site
TEPCO Official English Site (Does not immediately translate press releases)

Conclusion

I don’t know how useful the information in this post will be for you in the event of a major event in another country. Everything will depend on the country and its people. Please always be respectful to anybody translating for you. They are going out of their way during a disaster situation to bring information to you. If you are confident of some information, try to correct any misinformation you encounter, whether it’s online or in real life. Message people tweeting misinformation with the correct information. When your friends or family mention misinformation, tell them the correct information. I believe that the key to making the most of news via social media is minimizing misinformation and disseminating the correct information.

And if anybody from Twitter reads this post, I apologize for all of my “spam” recently. I am translating and forwarding translations for people on USTREAM channels nhk-gtv and tbstv, as well as correcting misinformation from foreigners that I see on those channels. Probably from tomorrow on their will be a lot less tweets via USTREAM from me. Please understand why I have been tweeting so much.

If anybody has any questions (lol like you actually read this), feel free to leave a comment on this post with your question and I will try my best to reply to it. Sorry that I have not translated lyrics in a long time too…

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