Poetry International Poetry International
Poem

Takako Arai

Eh-Janaika, Eh-Janaika

Why does this phrase, “Eh-janaika” (It’s alright, isn’t it?)
Drive people to dance about like they’re crazed, the way it does?
However it’s repeated
No one would dance to
“Yoi dewa arimasenka” (Why, don’t you think that it would be just fine?).
“Ii-janaika” (It’s alright, isn’t it?) comes close, but
The act of pulling your mouth apart to say “Ii”
Seems self-centered, and
Does not have the force and capacity to round up a whole mob of people under the moon.
“Eh”
Through a lightly opened mouth
Functions as a vowel, but
When stretched out, as in “Eh-”
Descends the deep well of your throat
Finds the bucket at the bottom and draws it back up
Makes a turnabout with “ja”
And then with “naika,” gets soaked.
That is to say
“Eh -  (  )  ja (  )  naika (  )”
Forms an eternal cycle of large and small waves.

I wonder just where this
“Eh-janaika” comes from.
The “Ii-janehka” in the
Northern Kanto dialect exudes a high-handed angle (  )
But doesn’t quite have the force of a wave.
The “Eh-yanaika” in the Kansai dialect
Has a softer crest on its wave (   )
But still lacks the force that would swallow people in.
And if this is the case
Perhaps it’s from somewhere central, like Mino or Mikawa
Where words like this might be borne, I suspect.
It must have spread
Freely throughout Japan
Precisely because it is not a vernacularism.
The “ja” is a resonant voiced consonant in which you might hear the
Distant sounds of Tsugaru “jo”ngara music
Where you put the “ja” (snake)-skin across the shamisen
While thinking about the remnants of Japonesia.

And so what would happen, then, if
We translate “Eh-janaika” to English?
“It’s alright, isn’t it?”
Has a rising intonation (    )
Along with a tag question sleeping beside it (   ),
And you find that peeking out from behind
Is a sense of “yeah, yeah” being called out.

So-da, So-da (That’s right, that’s right),
So-ka village’s
Soncho-san (Mayor)
Drank some so-da
And shinda so-da (died, they say)
The so-shiki (funeral) steamed bun
Is dekkeh so-da (pretty big, they say)

This is a joke-song from the Showa period
Which makes me imagine a devilish little child
Singing such a song, while sitting atop the shoulders
Of folks in a mob, storming a warehouse.

Furthermore
The brilliance of "Eh-janaika" might be that it is
A translation of “Namu Amida Butsu”
600 years in the making.
And under that moon, at the head of the group
Ringing the bell
Is the ghost of Ippen-san
We’ve invoked.

And singing along with him
Instantly our hips begin to move.
It is the age of degeneration.

Can we break through it, this “present moment”?

Eh-janaika, Eh-janaika
Eh-janaika, Eh-janaika
Eh-janaika, Eh-janaika
Eh-janaika, Eh-janaika

えぇじゃないか、えぇじゃないか

えぇじゃないか、えぇじゃないか

「えぇじゃないか」という言葉が
なぜ人を、踊り狂わせるのか。
どんなに繰り返しても、
「よいではありませんか」では
踊れない。
「いいじゃないか」でも、
口の両端を裂く「いー」の音は、
ひとりよがりで、
月下を、一群に、抱える度量がない。
「え」は、
口を軽く開ける母音だが、
「えぇ」と伸ばすとき、
喉の深井戸をくだり
釣瓶を見つけて汲み上げると、
「じゃ」で反転、
「ないか」は水浸しだ。
つまり、
「えぇ( )、じゃ( )、ないか( )」は、
永遠の大波小波ではないか。

「えぇじゃないか」は
一体、どこの言葉だろう。
北関東弁の「いいじゃねぇか」は
居丈高な角度はあるが( )、
波にはならない。
関西弁の「えぇやないか」には
柔らかな波穂はあるけれど( )、
人を飲み込む躍動がない。
そんなら、
真ん中の美濃や三河あたりに
こんな言葉を生む場所があるのだろうか、
と臆するのだが、
これは、土地言葉でないからこそ
日本中を、
アジールに、
駆けめぐったんじゃないか。
よく響く「じゃ」の濁音に、
津軽「じょ」んがら節の遠音を聞いたり、
三絃に「蛇」の皮を張る、
ヤポネシアの余波りを想ったり、

「えぇじゃないか」を
英訳したら、どうなるか。
「It’s all right?」は、
上がる抑揚だけだから( )
付加疑問を添い寝させ( )、
この言葉の背中には、
「そうだ、そうだ」の囃子詞が
覗いているな、と気付く。
〽そうだ、そうだ、
 ソー加村の
 ソン長さんが
 ソーダ飲んで
 死んだソーだ
 ソー式饅頭、
 でっけぇソーだ〽
は、昭和の戯れ唄だが、
蔵破りする一群には、
この本歌を口ずさむ、
デモーニッシュな幼な子が
ひょっと肩車されてはいまいか。

さらに、
「えぇじゃないか」の眩しさは
翻すのに六百年もかかってしまう、
「南無阿弥陀仏」の訳語かもしれない、
とも想い、
月下の、先頭に、
鉦打ち鳴らす、
一遍さんの幽霊を
呼び出して、

唱えれば、
たちまち腰が騒ぎます。
末法です。

突き抜けますか、「今」を、

えぇじゃないか、えぇじゃないか、
えぇじゃないか、えぇじゃないか、
えぇじゃないか、えぇじゃないか、
えぇじゃないか、えぇじゃないか、
Close

Eh-Janaika, Eh-Janaika

Why does this phrase, “Eh-janaika” (It’s alright, isn’t it?)
Drive people to dance about like they’re crazed, the way it does?
However it’s repeated
No one would dance to
“Yoi dewa arimasenka” (Why, don’t you think that it would be just fine?).
“Ii-janaika” (It’s alright, isn’t it?) comes close, but
The act of pulling your mouth apart to say “Ii”
Seems self-centered, and
Does not have the force and capacity to round up a whole mob of people under the moon.
“Eh”
Through a lightly opened mouth
Functions as a vowel, but
When stretched out, as in “Eh-”
Descends the deep well of your throat
Finds the bucket at the bottom and draws it back up
Makes a turnabout with “ja”
And then with “naika,” gets soaked.
That is to say
“Eh -  (  )  ja (  )  naika (  )”
Forms an eternal cycle of large and small waves.

I wonder just where this
“Eh-janaika” comes from.
The “Ii-janehka” in the
Northern Kanto dialect exudes a high-handed angle (  )
But doesn’t quite have the force of a wave.
The “Eh-yanaika” in the Kansai dialect
Has a softer crest on its wave (   )
But still lacks the force that would swallow people in.
And if this is the case
Perhaps it’s from somewhere central, like Mino or Mikawa
Where words like this might be borne, I suspect.
It must have spread
Freely throughout Japan
Precisely because it is not a vernacularism.
The “ja” is a resonant voiced consonant in which you might hear the
Distant sounds of Tsugaru “jo”ngara music
Where you put the “ja” (snake)-skin across the shamisen
While thinking about the remnants of Japonesia.

And so what would happen, then, if
We translate “Eh-janaika” to English?
“It’s alright, isn’t it?”
Has a rising intonation (    )
Along with a tag question sleeping beside it (   ),
And you find that peeking out from behind
Is a sense of “yeah, yeah” being called out.

So-da, So-da (That’s right, that’s right),
So-ka village’s
Soncho-san (Mayor)
Drank some so-da
And shinda so-da (died, they say)
The so-shiki (funeral) steamed bun
Is dekkeh so-da (pretty big, they say)

This is a joke-song from the Showa period
Which makes me imagine a devilish little child
Singing such a song, while sitting atop the shoulders
Of folks in a mob, storming a warehouse.

Furthermore
The brilliance of "Eh-janaika" might be that it is
A translation of “Namu Amida Butsu”
600 years in the making.
And under that moon, at the head of the group
Ringing the bell
Is the ghost of Ippen-san
We’ve invoked.

And singing along with him
Instantly our hips begin to move.
It is the age of degeneration.

Can we break through it, this “present moment”?

Eh-janaika, Eh-janaika
Eh-janaika, Eh-janaika
Eh-janaika, Eh-janaika
Eh-janaika, Eh-janaika

Eh-Janaika, Eh-Janaika

Why does this phrase, “Eh-janaika” (It’s alright, isn’t it?)
Drive people to dance about like they’re crazed, the way it does?
However it’s repeated
No one would dance to
“Yoi dewa arimasenka” (Why, don’t you think that it would be just fine?).
“Ii-janaika” (It’s alright, isn’t it?) comes close, but
The act of pulling your mouth apart to say “Ii”
Seems self-centered, and
Does not have the force and capacity to round up a whole mob of people under the moon.
“Eh”
Through a lightly opened mouth
Functions as a vowel, but
When stretched out, as in “Eh-”
Descends the deep well of your throat
Finds the bucket at the bottom and draws it back up
Makes a turnabout with “ja”
And then with “naika,” gets soaked.
That is to say
“Eh -  (  )  ja (  )  naika (  )”
Forms an eternal cycle of large and small waves.

I wonder just where this
“Eh-janaika” comes from.
The “Ii-janehka” in the
Northern Kanto dialect exudes a high-handed angle (  )
But doesn’t quite have the force of a wave.
The “Eh-yanaika” in the Kansai dialect
Has a softer crest on its wave (   )
But still lacks the force that would swallow people in.
And if this is the case
Perhaps it’s from somewhere central, like Mino or Mikawa
Where words like this might be borne, I suspect.
It must have spread
Freely throughout Japan
Precisely because it is not a vernacularism.
The “ja” is a resonant voiced consonant in which you might hear the
Distant sounds of Tsugaru “jo”ngara music
Where you put the “ja” (snake)-skin across the shamisen
While thinking about the remnants of Japonesia.

And so what would happen, then, if
We translate “Eh-janaika” to English?
“It’s alright, isn’t it?”
Has a rising intonation (    )
Along with a tag question sleeping beside it (   ),
And you find that peeking out from behind
Is a sense of “yeah, yeah” being called out.

So-da, So-da (That’s right, that’s right),
So-ka village’s
Soncho-san (Mayor)
Drank some so-da
And shinda so-da (died, they say)
The so-shiki (funeral) steamed bun
Is dekkeh so-da (pretty big, they say)

This is a joke-song from the Showa period
Which makes me imagine a devilish little child
Singing such a song, while sitting atop the shoulders
Of folks in a mob, storming a warehouse.

Furthermore
The brilliance of "Eh-janaika" might be that it is
A translation of “Namu Amida Butsu”
600 years in the making.
And under that moon, at the head of the group
Ringing the bell
Is the ghost of Ippen-san
We’ve invoked.

And singing along with him
Instantly our hips begin to move.
It is the age of degeneration.

Can we break through it, this “present moment”?

Eh-janaika, Eh-janaika
Eh-janaika, Eh-janaika
Eh-janaika, Eh-janaika
Eh-janaika, Eh-janaika
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