Tenka Musan — Dreams of a Changing Realm
Original title: 天下夢散
Original Japanese lyrics are preserved for listening and Japanese-language practice. The explanations below are in English.
ABOUT THIS SONG
About this song
From Azuchi–Momoyama to the end of the shogunate: follow a changing Japan.
From Nobunaga, Hideyoshi and Ieyasu to the Black Ships, the movement to honour the emperor and expel foreigners, the Satsuma–Chōshū alliance and the return of political power to the emperor.
This song follows Japan from Azuchi–Momoyama through Edo to the arrival of Meiji.
Listen for terms such as Genroku culture, Kasei culture, Dejima and the Sakuradamon Incident.
Castles rise, a shogunate begins, the Black Ships arrive and the Edo period draws to a close.
Follow not only who did what, but how the times changed.
LYRICS
Romaji helps you sing the Japanese words. English meaning explains them, rather than matching the tune.
Japanese wordplay and memory tricks may sound unusual in English—that’s part of the fun! The sound clues work in Japanese.
ō and ū mark long vowels (oo and uu). Original English lines are kept as written.
Azuchi Momoyama shiro ga tatsu
Nobunaga hirakishi tenka michi
Hideyoshi tsunaide heitei su
Sekigahara ni kiri ga tatsu
Ieyasu hiraku Edo bakufu
Sankin kōtai daimyō gyōretsu
Genroku Kamigata hana ga saku
Edo no shomin Kasei de yajiru
Ikki uchikowashi yo wa yureru
Azuchi Momoyama yume no ato
Sekigahara koe Edo hiraku
Kawaru keshiki o kakenukete
Toki no hazama ni yume chirasu
Nagasaki Dejima ni fune ga tsuku
Oranda Chūgoku umi watari
Tozashita kuni ni mo kaze wa fuku
Kikin ni ikki uchikowashi
Kaikaku kasane tatenaosu
Saredomo yo no naka mata yureru
Uraga no umi ni kurofune kitaru
Perī no reihō sora o utsu
Nichibei washin tobira aku
Kurofune kitari yume samete
Tozashita tobira ga hirakareru
Kawaru keshiki o kakenukete
Toki no hazama ni yume chirasu
Sonnō jōi koe agari
Sakuradamon-gai chi ga nagare
Bakumatsu no Kyō kaze areru
Satsuma Chōshū te o musubi
Ryōma ga kakeru asu no michi
Satchō dōmei yo ga ugoku
Yoshinobu kaesu seiken o
Taisei hōkan toki itari
Nihyaku rokujūnen maku o toji
Satsuma Chōshū yume tsunagi
Asagi no haori to Edo hateru
Kawaru keshiki o kakenukete
Toki no hazama ni yume chirasu
Azuchi Momoyama yume no ato
Sekigahara koe Edo hiraku
Kurofune koete Bakumatsu e
Toki no hazama ni yume chirasu
Nobunaga Hideyoshi Ieyasu to
Tsunaida jidai mo maku o toji
Tsuginaru asa e toki wa yuku
Aratana jidai no tobira aku
Ā Meiji no sora ga aku
安土桃山 城が立つ
信長開きし 天下道
秀吉つないで 平定す
関ヶ原に 霧が立つ
家康開く 江戸幕府
参勤交代 大名行列
元禄 上方 花が咲く
江戸の庶民 化政で野次る
一揆 打ちこわし 世は揺れる
安土桃山 夢の跡
関ヶ原越え 江戸開く
変わる景色を 駆け抜けて
時の狭間に 夢散らす
長崎 出島に 船が着く
オランダ 中国 海渡り
閉ざした国にも 風は吹く
飢饉に一揆 打ちこわし
改革重ね 立て直す
されども世の中 また揺れる
浦賀の海に 黒船来たる
ペリーの礼砲 空を打つ
日米和親 扉開く
黒船来たり 夢覚めて
閉ざした扉が 開かれる
変わる景色を 駆け抜けて
時の狭間に 夢散らす
尊王攘夷 声上がり
桜田門外 血が流れ
幕末の京 風荒れる
薩摩 長州 手を結び
龍馬が駆ける 明日の道
薩長同盟 世が動く
慶喜返す 政権を
大政奉還 時至り
二百六十年 幕を閉じ
薩摩 長州 夢つなぎ
浅葱の羽織りと 江戸終（はて）る
変わる景色を 駆け抜けて
時の狭間に 夢散らす
安土桃山 夢の跡
関ヶ原越え 江戸開く
黒船越えて 幕末へ
時の狭間に 夢散らす
信長 秀吉 家康と
つないだ時代も 幕を閉じ
次なる朝へ 時はゆく
新たな時代の 扉開く
ああ 明治の空が明く
Azuchi–Momoyama: castles rise.
Nobunaga opens the road to unification.
Hideyoshi carries it on, bringing the land under his rule.
Mist rises over Sekigahara.
Ieyasu establishes the Edo shogunate.
Alternate attendance: processions of daimyō.
Genroku: culture blossoms in Kamigata.
In Kasei-era Edo, ordinary people jeer and call out.
Uprisings and attacks on shops shake society.
Azuchi–Momoyama, the traces of a dream.
Beyond Sekigahara, the Edo age begins.
Racing through a changing landscape,
dreams scatter in the spaces between ages.
Ships arrive at Dejima in Nagasaki,
crossing the seas from the Netherlands and China.
Even in a country with closed doors, the wind still blows.
Famine, uprisings, attacks on shops.
Reform after reform tries to set things right.
Yet society is shaken once again.
Black Ships arrive in the waters off Uraga.
Perry's gun salutes thunder through the sky.
The Japan–US Treaty of Peace and Amity opens a door.
The Black Ships come; the dream is broken.
Doors once closed swing open.
Racing through a changing landscape,
dreams scatter in the spaces between ages.
Voices rise: honor the emperor, expel the foreigners.
Blood is spilled outside Sakuradamon Gate.
Winds rage through Kyoto in the shogunate's final years.
Satsuma and Chōshū join hands.
Ryōma races down the road toward tomorrow.
The Satsuma–Chōshū alliance sets the age in motion.
Yoshinobu returns political power.
The time comes for the return of power to the emperor.
The curtain falls on 260 years.
Satsuma and Chōshū connect their dreams.
With pale-blue haori coats, the Edo age comes to an end.
Racing through a changing landscape,
dreams scatter in the spaces between ages.
Azuchi–Momoyama, the traces of a dream.
Beyond Sekigahara, the Edo age begins.
Past the Black Ships, into the shogunate's final years.
Dreams scatter in the spaces between ages.
Nobunaga, Hideyoshi, Ieyasu:
the age they passed from hand to hand also ends.
Time moves toward the next dawn,
and a door opens onto a new age.
Ah, dawn breaks over the Meiji sky.
LOOK CLOSER · LOCK ON
Follow the changing eras through the song.
信長開きし 天下道
“Nobunaga opened the road to unification.”
江戸の庶民 化政で野次る
“The people of Edo raise their voices in the Kasei age.”
黒船来たり 夢覚めて
“The Black Ships arrive, and the dream is broken.”
浅葱の羽織りと 江戸終（はて）る
“With pale-blue haori, Edo comes to its end.”
LYRIC SHEET
Japanese lyric sheet
Download the lyrics and look a little deeper.
The lyrics contain key historical terms and clues to each period.
Print them, add your own notes and trace how the eras connect.
