is a Japanese ''

gunka is the Japanese term for military music. While in standard use in Japan it applies both to Japanese songs and foreign songs such as " The Battle Hymn of the Republic", as an English language category it refers to songs produced by the Empire of ...

'' released in 1905 following the

Russo-Japanese War The Russo-Japanese War ( ja, 日露戦争, Nichiro sensō, Japanese-Russian War; russian: Ру́сско-япóнская войнá, Rússko-yapónskaya voyná) was fought between the Empire of Japan and the Russian Empire during 1904 and 1 ...

. The lyrics were written by Hisen Mashima, and the song was composed by Kazuoki Miyoshi. The first verse, along with that of , was used in the interlude of 's song, "". The melody also served as the basis for , which was written by Yukitoki Takigawa and published in ''

Asahi Shimbun is one of the four largest newspapers in Japan. Founded in 1879, it is also one of the oldest newspapers in Japan and Asia, and is considered a newspaper of record for Japan. Its circulation, which was 4.57 million for its morning edition an ...

''. The song describes the soldier's feelings about his partner who had fallen in battle while in

Manchuria Manchuria is an exonym (derived from the endo demonym "Manchu") for a historical and geographic region in Northeast Asia encompassing the entirety of present-day Northeast China (Inner Manchuria) and parts of the Russian Far East ( Outer ...

. In the song, a soldier attempts to aid his fallen friend while ignoring strict military orders, but the friend tells him to continue the combat mission alone. Although the song has been criticised as "weak" at the time of its publication, it was sung by several army generals. It was also sung in schools across Japan, primarily in the east. Within ten years, however, ''

enka is a Japanese music genre considered to resemble traditional Japanese music stylistically. Modern ''enka'', however, is a relatively recent musical form, which adopts a more traditional musical style in its vocalism than '' ryūkōka'' music, ...

-shi'' spread the song throughout the country. Following the

Mukden Incident The Mukden Incident, or Manchurian Incident, known in Chinese as the 9.18 Incident (九・一八), was a false flag event staged by Japanese military personnel as a pretext for the 1931 Japanese invasion of Manchuria. On September 18, 1931, L ...

in 1931, the song regained popularity as it reminded the Japanese about defending their foothold in Manchuria. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, the Japanese military banned the song on the grounds that it spread

war-weariness War-weariness is the public or political disapproval for the continuation of a prolonged conflict or war. The causes normally involve the intensity of casualties—financial, civilian, and military. It also occurs when a belligerent has the ab ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Senyu 1905 songs Anti-war songs Japanese-language songs