Tinsagu nu Hana

, also , is an Okinawan song about traditional Ryukyuan values such as filial piety and other Confucian teachings in the Okinawan language.

The Okinawa Prefectural government designated "Tinsagu nu Hana" as "Okinawa Prefecture's favorite song" on March 18, 2012, following a public survey. It was subsequently made an official symbol of Okinawa Prefecture, making it the prefecture's second musical symbol alongside the "Song of Okinawa Prefecture".

Lyrics

<small>The last four of the ten verses are missing.</small>

Okinawan

:てぃんさぐぬ花や

:爪先に染みてぃ

:親ぬゆし事や

:肝に染みり

:天ぬ群星や

:読みば読まりしが

:親ぬゆし言や

:読みやならん

:夜走らす舟や

:子ぬ方星見当てぃ

:我ん生ちぇる親や

:我んどぅ見当てぃ

:宝玉やてぃん

:磨かにば錆す

:朝夕肝磨ち

:浮世渡ら

:誠する人や

:後や何時迄ん

:思事ん叶てぃ

:千代ぬ栄い

:なしば何事ん

:なゆる事やしが

:なさぬ故からどぅ

:ならぬ定み

Transliteration

:Tinsagu nu hana ya

:Chimisachi ni sumiti

:Uya nu yushigutu ya

:Chimu ni sumiri

:Tin nu muribushi ya

:Yumiba yumarishi ga

:Uya nu yushigutu ya

:Yumiyanaran

:Yuru harasu funi ya

:Ninufabushi miati

:Wan nacheru uya ya

:Wan du miati

:Takaradama yati n

:Migakaniba sabisu

:Asayu chimu migachi

:Uchi yu watara

:Makutu suru hitu ya

:Atu ya ichi madi n

:Umukutu n kanati

:Chiyu nu sakai

:Nashiba nangutu n

:Nayurugutu yashi ga

:Nasanu yui kara du

:Naranu sadami

English translation

:Just as my fingernails

:Are stained with the pigment from balsam flowers

:My heart is painted

:With the teachings of my parents

:Although the stars in the sky

:Are countable

:The teachings of my parents

:Are not

:Just as ships that run in the night

:Are guided to safety by the North Star

:I am guided by my parents

:Who gave birth to me and watch over me

:There's no point in possessing magnificent jewelry

:If you don't maintain it

:People who maintain their bodies

:Will live life wonderfully

:The desires of the person who lives sincerely

:Will always run true

:And as a result

:She will prosper

:You can do anything

:If you try

:But you can't

:If you don't

Popular culture

Ryuichi Sakamoto used the song in the album Beauty. According to Felicity Collins of La Trobe University, this was the initial time that the song was "appropriated for a ‘world music’ audience".

It is a song used in the soundtrack of the 2003 Australian film Japanese Story. Shelley Scown was the vocalist, while Elizabeth Drake did the orchestral work. The song is used in the film's ending, where the protagonist, Sandy, watches an aircraft, which is carrying the body of a Japanese man, Hiromitsu, whom she grows to know throughout the film, taxiing and preparing to take off. Collins wrote that some movie critics from Japan perceived the usage of the song as "a contentious issue" because the song specifically has an Okinawan character and yet is not something generally related to Japan, and "secondly because the fragility and beauty of this song, about upholding Okinawan identity, seems incongruous in an Australian film".

Lyrics

Popular culture

Further reading