“Kodoku na Hoshizora” by AKB48: Is it “art” … or do I just have a dirty mind?

AKB48 Team A  “Kodoku na Hoshizora” song and music video.

Watch the music video here on the wonderful Jpopsuki.tv web site.  A new window will open for Jpopsuki linked here.

http://www.jpopsuki.tv/category/video/AKB48-Team-A—Kodoku-Na-Hoshizora-%2528eng-subbed%2529/de348894133a1dd04cf3eea470170259/18

Edit: Jpopsuki is out of business — please see the new link below. Sorry no subs there.

https://vk.com/video-25293054_163576592

Make sure to view full screen in order to appreciate the period art!

click images to view full size

This was an amazing AKB video, and you will not find it on YouTube.  The story takes place during the Tokugawa Shogunate-era in Japan.  We are taken to a scene in the era’s Ukiyo (浮世, ) or “Floating World”.  This is the pleasure area, or “red light district” of brothels and tea houses in Edo.

The story centers on a character played by Mayu Watanabe.  She plays an Edo prostitute who is in love with another prostitute played by Rina Kawaei.  The haunting lyrics describe a desperate love that can never be.

When I first viewed this, I thought that the music video contained much more lesbian erotica than it actually does. There is much that is inferred, and the camera switches at particular moments.  There is A LOT of teasing (e.g., at time 2:26, Mayu leans forward as if to kiss Rina, but the camera switches to show that Mayu is just whispering a secret into Rina’s ear).  I daresay that the music itself has a very sexy and seductive sound … but then again, maybe I just have a dirty mind. One becomes open to suggestion here.  This music video is done very tastefully.  Upon later viewing. I was better able to enjoy the art, kimono costumes and lyrics.  There is no vulgarity, but it does tell the story of  lesbian passion and longing – something that is rarely told in popular music.  It is an elaborate music video, and is another reason why I like AKB48.  I liked the kimonos of course, and the tapestries, and I especially loved those “Sitka deer” statutes.  It is hoped that after viewing, readers will want to research more about this period of Japanese culture and history.

          “I beg you shooting stars …”

As always, Thank You to Stage 48 for providing a source of lyrical translations.  Thanks to Jpopsuki users “mochichan”,  “abilien” and “spacelion139” for lyric transcription and time setting.  You did an amazing job with the English Subtitles!  Thank you Mr. Yasushi Akimoto-san for being a creative genius.  His lyrics are wonderful:  They sound great sung in Japanese, and are still  mystically beautiful as translated into English below:

English Translation: “The Lonely Starry Sky”

While feeling around in the dark
I searched for a faint light
I’ve been lost in the forest of my heart
Since the day I met you

Please tell me, shooting stars
How long must I wait here?
For the sake of this irreplaceable love
I am now merely looking up at a time of solitude…

Near the thin purple dawn
I found hope in the sky
Even if you cannot embrace me
Having you by my side is enough

I beg you, shooting stars
Let this love shine for eternity
If love is enveloped by myriad clouds
My sigh will become the wind, an illusion that will reach it

For the sake of this irreplaceable love
I am now merely looking up at a time of solitude…

Loving one another
I do not want to call it a miracle

Nothing can be seen
That light is still far in the distance

Loving one another
Such a thing is always fate

The stars are silently
Waiting for that day to arrive

It took approximately one year for this starlight to reach my world.