JapanNewbie

We are Tanaka Hirokazu

Posted on 10. Dec, 2009 @ 12:25 am by harvey in Humor, Music

JapanNewbies, I want you to do an exercise with me.

Close your eyes and imagine eleven people all named Hirokazu Tanaka singing a song together about their same-named predicament.

…

Good. Now, open your eyes… And watch this video of eleven people all named Hirokazu Tanaka singing a song together about their same-named predicament.

The track starts off with the phrase, 僕たち田中ひろかずです。 “We are, Tanaka Hirokazu!”

Tanaka Hirokazu is a Japanese composer who is also responsible for the sound tracks for video game classics such as Donkey Kong, Super Mario Brothers, Metroid, Mother, and Pac-man. You can read more about Hirokazu Tanaka over on HearJapan.com.

Get 'Tanaka Hirokazu No Uta' on HearJapan.com

You know… Judging by the cover of the album… I think all of these Tanaka Hirokazus actually have the same Kanji for their name as well. That’s pretty impressive. Often in Japan you’ll meet people with the same name, but they’ll usually have a different Kanji. If not, you’re sure to hear a “わーすごい！偶然だね！That’s incredible! incroyable!!!”

For example… ALL of the following are possible Kanji for the name Hirokazu.

博一 HIROKAZU
広一 HIROKAZU
裕和 HIROKAZU
宏和 HIROKAZU
宏一 HIROKAZU
寛和 HIROKAZU
博和 HIROKAZU
広和 HIROKAZU
洋和 HIROKAZU
泰和 HIROKAZU

I’m not joking.

Lesson of the day: Proper nouns in Japanese are hard!

They are all Hirokazu Tanaka

Hello Mr. Tanaka(s)!

- Harvey

Thanks for the lyrics @yumyumsesame!

僕たち田中ひろかずです。

１．
自分で選んだわけじゃない (わけじゃない）
気づいた時には呼ばれてた (え？呼ばれてた？）
田中宏和は田中宏和を知る (Woohooo!)
同姓同名　世界にたくさん　この世界にひとり (Hey!)
田中宏和　この名前で会いましょう

２．
自分が見つけたわけじゃない (わけじゃない）
同じ名の人呼んでいた (呼んでた呼んでた！）
田中宏和は田中宏和と会う (Woohooo!)
同姓同名　世界にたくさん　この世界にひとり (Hey!)
田中宏和　この名前で集まろう

３．
自分で求めたわけじゃない (田中宏和です)
同じところに呼ばれてた (呼ばれてた)
田中宏和は田中宏和と集う
同姓同名　世界にたくさん　この世界にひとり (Hey!)
田中宏和　この名前を続けよう
この名前で会いましょう

Full disclosure. I didn’t know 集う (つどう – to congregate, assemble, meet) before hearing this song. Or… I knew it and forgot.

We’ll have a translation soon. Somebody will do it I’m sure! Hint hint.