歌舞伎町の女王 • Queen of Kabukicho

12Mar09

歌舞伎町の女王
The Queen of Kabuki-Cho

蝉の声を聞く度に　目に浮かぶ九十九里浜
皺々の祖母の手を離れ　独りで訪れた歓楽街

Cicada songs❶ call me back to Kujuukuri❷ beach
I break free of my wrinkled grandmother’s hand
and enter the pleasure quarters alone.
semi❶ no koe wo kiku tabi ni, me ni ukabe kujuukurihama❷
Shimajima no obaa no te wo hanare hitori de otoreta kanrakugai

ママは此処の女王様　生き写しの様なあたし
誰しもが手を伸べて　子供ながらに魅せられた歓楽街

Mama❸ ruled this place; I was her lifelike incarnation
The child everyone lured into the bewitching pleasure quarters
mama❸ wa koko no jo-ou-sama, ikiutsuhi no sama na atashi
dareshimo ga te wo nobete  kodomo nagara ni bakaserareta kanrakugai

15に成ったあたしを　置いて女王は消えた
毎週金曜日に来ていた男と暮らすのだろう

The queen left me when I was fifteen
Disappeared with the man who came to call every Friday
juugo ni natta atashi wo  naoite joou ha kieta
maishuu kinyoubi ni kiteita otoko to kurasu no darou

「一度栄えし者でも必ずや衰えゆく」➍
その意味を知る時を迎え足を踏み入れたは歓楽街

“Things of glory do decline.”➍
Such words find me meaning as I walk into the pleasure quarters
“ichido sakashi mono demo kanarazuya otoroe yuku”➍
sono imi wo shiru toki wo mukae ashi wo fumi ireta ha kanrakugai

消えて行った女を憎めど夏は今
女王と云う肩書きを誇らしげに掲げる

I hate the woman who disappeared on me
But I will proudly carry her title this summer
kieteitta onna wo nikumedo natsu ha ima
joou to iu katagaki wo hokorashige ni kakageru

女に成ったあたしが売るのは自分だけで
同情を欲した時に全てを失うだろう

I’m only selling myself, as I grow to be a woman➎
Hoping for solace means risking everything else
onna ni natta➎ atashi ga uru no ha jibun dake de
doujou wo horishita toki ni subete wo ushinau darou

JR新宿駅の東口を出たら
其処はあたしの庭　大遊戯場歌舞伎町

Leave Shinjuku station through the eastern exit and there it is:
My garden, my courtyard, the great playground of Kabukichou
JR Shinjuku eki no higashi guchi wo detara
Soko ha atashi no niwa, daiyuugibajou Kabukichou

今夜からは此の町で娘➏のあたしが女王

This daughter➏  starts her reign tonight.
Konya kara ha kono machi de musume➏ no atashi ga joou

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NOTE:

① Cicada song • semi no koe » As a metaphor, cicadas tend to signify indifference, and shedding; thus she ‘sheds’ her grandmother in the next line (the graphic ‘shimajima‘, ‘wrinkled and dried’, hints at moulted skin), which could also stand in for her security. One recalls Genji when he describes his young lover as a cicada shedding her shawl to meet him. Cicadas are also visual cues for summer (which is stated outright in the following passages).

② Kujuukuri beach » A famous beach in the Chiba prefecture. Worth noting that real Kabuki actors perform here occasionally. Shiina is employing a favourite device in Japanese poetry; the juxtaposition of two seemingly jarring themes, which are nonetheless correlated in a shared image-feel (kanji), or a pun-sequence (in this case both; taking it as a pun, the sound of ‘semen’ reminds her of ‘Kabuki-cho’). Another thing worth noting is that the “water business” is also an euphemism for the sex trade.

③ ママ » The use of “mama” implies the affectionate relationship and closeness the persona has with her forerunner, but it is also the shortened form of ‘mama-san’, (especially since it is written in the katakana glyph) the head courtesan of a ‘house’, if not the owner. Thus the ‘queen’ is not necessarily of blood relation to the girl, as is commonly perceived.

④ ichido sakashi mono demo… • “Even things of…” » Very literally, “all glorious things that rise must also fall,” in reference to the former queen’s “kingdom”

➄ 女に成った • grow into a woman » in Japanese, a euphemism for losing one’s virginity. As 女 (on-na) is the crudest form of sexual reference to a woman, I suppose it is defined precisely by the moment she comes into contact, or is exposed to male penetration. Conversely, it is the same as when the expression “男に成った” is applied to a man. A different nuance if 「女性に成る」were to be used (jo-sei being the most formal, most polite, and generally acceptable inclusive term for ‘woman’), as the latter would imply that a young girl has acquired the graces and the discipline elder women are expected to have.

➅ 娘のあたし • musume no atashi » literally, “From tonight henceforward, in this town, she who was once the daughter/ young girl shall now be the queen.” Musume means both ‘daughter’ (blood relative) and ‘young lady’, the equivalent of which in English we say, “my child”. In Beach language, “inday”.

Lastly, Kabukicho [»]. Scary to go at night, especially when you’re alone. Well, you brave it to get to the good gig places, but STILL.

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Performed by　椎名林檎 (Shiina Ringo)
Translated by　火

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