Tankō Bushi (炭坑節) is a Japanese folk song. Despite the term "fushi/bushi" found in its name, the rhythm is in swung, ondo style. It is a song about coal mining, and it refers to old Miike Mine in Kyūshū (Tagawa City). It is a common song used in Bon dances during the Bon Festival, and the dance that accompanies it depicts actions in mines such as shoveling coal, throwing a bag of coal over the shoulders, wiping sweat from the brow or pushing a cart of coal.
Japanese:
Tsuki ga deta deta
Tsuki ga deta, a yoi yoi
Miike Tankō no ue ni deta
Anmari entotsu ga takai no de
Sazoya otsukisan kemutakaro
Sa no yoi yoi
Rough English translation:
The moon, has come out,
Oh, the moon is out, heave ho (kakegoe)
Over Miike Coal Mine has the moon come out.
The chimney is so high,
I wonder if the moon chokes on the smoke...
Heave Ho!
Modern arrangements of Tankō Bushi replace the lyric『Miike Tankō』with "uchi no oyama," which in traditional mining dialect means "our coal mine" or "our coal pit," as Miike Mine is no longer in service, and the song is played at Bon dances outside of Kyūshū.
The song was recorded in Japan in 1932.[1] It was originally recorded on 78 RPM as Victor V-41543.
A popular version [2] is the 1963 commercial recording featuring Suzuki Masao and Kikumaru, recorded on Victor of Japan, MV-1 (JES-1041).[3] The CD version is Victor of Japan MVK-1.[4]
The version of Tanko Bushi most commonly heard in Bon Dances in Hawaii during the second half of the 1900's was the 1950 recording of Suzuki Masao with Japanese musicians. It was recorded in 1950 in Japan by Yoshio Nakayama and released by The Folk Dancer Record Service as a 78 RPM MH 2010a.[5] [6] This recording features five verses, with Suzuki Masao singing verses 1, 3 and 5 and a female singer on verses 2, 4 and 5.
