Izayoi no Tsuki* (The Moon of the 16th Night)


Just for you

Kisetsu ga irozukeru omoide

Itsuka aenaku naru to shirinagara

Kimi wo aishita


            Just for you

            The seasons connected memories to colors

            Although I knew that someday it would come to an end

            I loved you


Kagiri aru toki no sunahama wo futari

Atemonaku aruku youna koi datta

Sakasani furu kutsu kara koboreta no wa

Atsui setsuna kitto kimi mo shitteta


            Since it was the kind of love in which you walk aimlessly 

            At one time we reached the end of the sandy beach

            Shaking our shoes upside down to get everything to spill out

            You must have known too in that heated moment

 

Dareka no kawaridemo boku wa yokattayo zutto

Ano toki kimi wa naiteta gomen to boku ni tsugete


            On someone’s behalf or something like that, I had always been relieved 

            That time you were crying, letting me know you were sorry


Aoi tsuki ga hitori no kage no bashi

Kimi no omokage dake terasu

Just for me kisetsu ga misetsukeru theory

Ai wa michite wa kaketeku mono to izayoi no tsuki


            The blue moon’s lonely extending shadow

            Illuminates only your silhouette

            Just for me the seasons show theory

            Love is something full and lacking like the moon of sixteenth night 

 


Kagen ni kawariyuku tsuki wo kimi mo

Miteru ano hi kimi ga hanashiteta hitoto

Deai ga hayakereba kimi ga iikaketa kotoba ga

Boku no mune wo shimetsukeruyo ima mo

Kitto fuyu mo


            I see the last quarter+ of the changing moon and you

            On that day, you talked about that person

            If only we had met sooner, as you started to speak

            My heart tightened, even now

            And surely into the winter++


Asai nemuride miruyume (wa) setsunai kimi ga kanashiku waraukara

Just for you mou nidoto utaenai melody

Ano hi sayonarasae ienakute

Kimi to hanareta


            Because you laugh sadly, in my shallow sleep I see a passionless dream

            Just for you there is a melody which cannot be sung ever again

            That day I couldn’t even say Good Bye

            I was separated from you


Natsu ni moesugita taiyouga shizumu kara

Kogeta youna nioi ga surunda


            Due to the sinking sun, the burning summer passes

            There is a charred-like smell


Sukoshi samukute kabutta uwagi dewa

Omoi tojikomerare nakute


            If it’s a little cold, you would wear a coat

            Your thoughts aren’t locked away+++


Aoi tsuki ga hitori no kage no bashi

Kimi no omokage dake terasu

Just for me kisetsu ga misetsukeru theory

Ai wa kakeru kara utsukushii izayoi no tsuki


            The blue moon’s lonely extending shadow

            Illuminates only your silhouette

            Just for me the seasons show theory

            Because love is missing, the moon of the 16th night is beautiful



* Translator’s Notes: In Japanese culture, the moon of the 16th night of every month (going by lunar/Chinese calendar) is a full moon. (Sometimes the full moon falls on a day before the 16th, but it’s still seen as a full moon on the 16th night.) Going by a non-lunar calendar, the 16th night’s moon (that sounds funky) is usually the first quarter (see only half of the moon lit up). So love is like the moon on the 16th night, because it’s either full and bright, or one-sided. Well, that’s my take on it!! ^.^

 


+Kagen ni kawariyuku tsuki wo kimi mo (I see the last quarter of the changing moon and you)=

In case you were wondering, the last quarter of the moon is when you can only see half of it. So the singer is again comparing their love to the moon’s phases, and how it was only half there at that point.


++Boku no mune wo shimetsukeruyo ima mo/Kitto fuyu mo (My heart tightened, even now/And surely into the winter)=

I think the lyrics mean, his heart still hurts at remembering her words, and surely still into the future . I’m thinking ‘winter’ is a figure of speech for saying throughout more seasons.


+++Omoi tojikomerare nakute (Your thoughts aren’t locked away)=

Once again, I think the lyrics mean that when it’s cold you can just put on a coat to block it away the wind or whatnot, but when someone treats you in a cold manner or has cold feelings toward another, it cannot be blocked off so simply.