The Japanese National Anthem...
A number of Tokyo teachers are suing the metropolitan government over punishments inflicted for refusing to sing the national anthem, 'and claim they were treated unjustly under a directive that violates their freedom of thought'.
This raises a couple of issues - firstly, there are clearly boat rocking teachers everywhere, and secondly how were non-singers spotted and who denounced them?
This is the Japanese national anthem in its entirety:
"May your Imperial reignContinue for a thousand years,
And last for eight thousand generations,
Until pebbles
Turn into boulders
Covered in moss".
So there's some fairly dodgy science going on there, and it would seem that Japan has fairly short generations. Also, I would have rather more sympathy were they teachers in Athens having to wade through 158 (count 'em) stanzas, or teachers in Montevideo having to maintain interest for the full five minutes of the Uruguayan national anthem. I hate to think how long a club remix would go on for. Both are rather bloodier than the Japanese anthem too.
This raises a couple of issues - firstly, there are clearly boat rocking teachers everywhere, and secondly how were non-singers spotted and who denounced them?
This is the Japanese national anthem in its entirety:
"May your Imperial reignContinue for a thousand years,
And last for eight thousand generations,
Until pebbles
Turn into boulders
Covered in moss".
So there's some fairly dodgy science going on there, and it would seem that Japan has fairly short generations. Also, I would have rather more sympathy were they teachers in Athens having to wade through 158 (count 'em) stanzas, or teachers in Montevideo having to maintain interest for the full five minutes of the Uruguayan national anthem. I hate to think how long a club remix would go on for. Both are rather bloodier than the Japanese anthem too.
Labels: Japan
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on Saturday, February 10, 2007 at 10:50 am.
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C
being japs they probably want to include something about schoolgirls in bondage during the national anthem.
Seeing as 99% of the male population of japan is obsessed with such matters , I dread to think what goes on in the heads of their school teachers.
The football commentator the other night said that the Spanish national anthem has no words: it's just a tune. How clever: can it be true?
Dm - Apparently so, although words have been used on occasion. More here.
I may yet do my long threatened post on national anthems....
Can't wait for that Nationalt Anthems thread, C! My favourites are US, France, Russia in that order - wonderful tunes all, uplifting words form the wonderfully bloodthirsty words from the French _ cna't comment on the content of the Russian _ didn't they drop the Internationale for the old Imperial anthem briefly, before returning to the TUNE of the Internationale with new words? Or have I got that completely wrong?
Apologies for my garbled post above! Never mind my Russian, I seem to be able to mangle English well enough! I, of course, meant to say: "wonderful words from the US"
Believe you me, I have dug up some corkers, and the Hitch has not bothered complaining this time, so national anthems there - work permitting - will be.
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