I'm trying to come up with a better translation of Aratanaru Chikai. Some of the lines have strange translations ("burn like tea"!?).


(1) Does anyone know what "Chiheisen ga oshiete kureteru yo" means?

地平線(ちへいせん) = horizon, 教(おし)える = teach/inform, but I'm not familiar with kureru constructions. Is the speaker asking the horizon to tell him something? Assuming the romanization is correct, the horizon is the one who does the informing.


(2) I have trouble with this verse:

"Madamada nakama hairu hazu sa
Suiheisen miteru to kanjiru yo
Madamada yaru koto ippai tte
Omoi to ni ureshii ze!"

Maybe something like:

"I expect that my companions haven't gone there yet.
When I see the horizon, I sense that
it's full of things still to do
??? [he's happy about something or other]"

Any suggestions anyone? Note that there could be errors in the romanization.

oshiete kureru is something like "to do the favour of teaching/instructing/showing [the speaker, or the speakers group]" (I suppose it expresses gratefulness on the part of the receiver and is respectful) and is a common expression.

This example is in a contracted form of the progressive/habitual action (te-iru) so it's "the [land as opposed to sea] horizon is showing/teaching [me, us]!". Yes, the horizon is teaching or (showing the way?), it's the subject in the sentence, being marked by ga. The object (the speaker/group) is implied but kureru makes that clear.

Sounds like a Jon Anderson lyric (anyone who knows Yes will understand that reference!)

Sorry, I don't have time to tackle the rest, but note the contrast of 水平線 (suiheisen) the horizon at sea, or over water, as opposed to land mentioned above.

I love Japanese pop/rock lyrics, even seemingly bland pop lyrics have these extraordinary expressions embedded in them that you would never see the like of in western pop songs.

"Madamada nakama hairu hazu sa
Suiheisen miteru to kanjiru yo
Madamada yaru koto ippai tte
Omoi to ni ureshii ze!" <- Kanji, please!!!!!!!

I expect my friends have not yet entered (it)
When I see the horizon, I can feel that
There are still a lot of things left to do, he/she said
My heart feels very happy!

Though it kind of sounds strange. There are probably mistakes in the original text. Are you sure it doesn't say "ippakutte"? An original Kanji version would help alot.

"Chiheisen ga oshiete kureteru yo"

I am being/have been told by the horizon
("Concerning the horizon, I am getting the telling from it")

Madamada nakama hairu hazu sa
Suiheisen miteru to kanjiru yo
Madamada yaru koto ippai tte
Omoi to ni ureshii ze!"

Alright, I'll take a swing at it too and try to not sound foolish.
Though to be honest, without kanji, intonation or any background alot of this is guess work. Im not going to try and make the song sound good in English, just give you the (my) meaning of it.

Madamada nakama hairu hazu sa
Suiheisen miteru to kanjiru yo
Madamada yaru koto ippai tte
Omoi to ni ureshii ze!"

Start with the last line. I don't know why "ni" is in there, but I think that he/she maybe saying "I'm happy when I think that" in reference to the above lines.
Now look at the two middle lines. "I look at the horizon and think (which isnt actually in there, it is implied in the last line) there is still so much to be done." The "tte" is a quote/thought marker.
And the first line. I'm going to go weigh out on a limb and say that he means "I still think I can get into a/the group." or a bit prettier. " I know (yeah the Japanese is "think/have a hunch", but the sa makes it strong) "I still have plenty of time to find out where I belong".
I still have plenty of time to find out where I belong".
I look at the horizon and think
There is still so much to be done.
I'm happy when I think that.
I don't know where this song is from but am assuming anime. If that is the case this translation maybe close. Things I like? Well, the idea of wanting something badly, in this case to be part of the group (so very Japanese) but setting that aside for duty (lots of things to be done) and actually enjoying that (Im happy when) sounds like a great setting for some really stupid anime. Some sort of lost my family/turned vigilante crap. Maybe he has a secret stone in his chest that lets him change baseball cards into small animals that do his bidding when he fights a group of hankerchief wieldiing ninjas in a contest in which only the winner can return home/save his girlfriend/become the mystical one. Hee hee. Sorry. Just having fun.
There are a lot of parts that Im reaching for here but it may be close.
Best of luck

You are right, you can actually not be sure about anything without Kanji.
But there is something that is sure: It doesn't say "Suiheisen mitete kanjiru yo" or "Suiheisen minagara kanjiru yo" or "Suiheisen miru mama kanjiru yo" but "suiheisen miteru to kanjiru yo!", so the translation ought to be "WHEN looking into the horizon I can feel it".
Omoi on the other hand has many meanings. It can be thought, idea, heart, heavy some examples: 思い、重い、想い。 But I think your translation (which was nearly like) "I feel happy with this thought" is a correct possibility, and the "ni" is either wrong or very artificial.

The first line you translated sounds nice, though there are a lot of possibilities how to translate that. There is the particle missing between "nakama" and "hairu" which normally is not done in such cases, but it fits better into the lyrics here. It could be "ni" (which would be your translation), it could be "ga" or "wo" or whatever. Everything with a different meaning. Though, "nakama hairu" translated with "to find out where I belong" seems a little.....brave, I think. Basing on your version:
"I expect there is still a long way to go until I can enter the circle of my friends"
THAT is a very precise, if longish and clumsy translation (which I tried to avoid last time). And I don't see the sense of this in the context. That might be because there is no context

You can almost always find lyrics for Japanese pop on a Japanese site by putting a direct quote in Google (in quote marks and filtering with site:jp), so I just kanji-fied "suiheisen miteru to kanjiru yo" (水平線見てると感じるよ) and found this:
http://hp6.0zero.jp/novel/page.php?uid=t...m_pw=&no=2
It has some significant differences from the romaji version (and from some kanji versions found on western sites).

The puzzling phrase Omoi to ni ureshii ze! is written 思うと逆に嬉しいぜ, giving a quite different nuance, and it doesn't have the offending とに!

I don't have (or know) the song so I can't verify which version is correct by ear, but I think one would tend to trust a Japanese version more than a romaji! I presume this is from Pok?mon as it contains the phrase そうポケモンマスター!

you can actually translate "Chiheisen ga oshiete kureru yo"
as "Show me the horizon".

This is similar to "Michi wo oshiete kureru" which is like
"Show me the way".

But in your case, it says "kureteru", which I would take to mean
"You're showing me the horizon (aren't you) !". But it might differ
depending on the context. I'd have to read the rest of the song.

Interestingly, if you want to ask "Do you know the way to get there?"
you can say "Michi ga wakarimasu ka", which literally means "do you understand
the streets".

I love Japanese....

chamcham Wrote:Interestingly, if you want to ask "Do you know the way to get there?"
you can say "Michi ga wakarimasu ka", which literally means "do you understand
the streets".

It doesn't quite literally mean that though (sorry if I'm being picky!), because note that it's みち が and not みち を. The streets (or the way) are the subject of the verb, not the object.

Although わかる is of course a verb, it's intransitive, so it's use is a bit like with the adjective すき. You don't "すき" ラーメン, for example, ラーメン is "すき" (to you) - for you it's likeable. Similarly, you don't わかる the way, the way is わかる - it's "understandable" or "clear in your mind".

Thanks for the great response. It's given me some leads to go on with.

As I said, I'm not sure the romanization I found at animelyrics is entirely correct. I'll listen to the song again and see if I can improve on it.

As Pangolin said, j-pop and anime lyrics contain some extraordinary expressions. Another Pokemon song I'd like to tackle is Pockettari Monstari. I find the use of language in it remarkable (and fun).


ADDENDUM: The first three stanzas parallel the next three. Using that and listening to it again, I think I've figured out what the problem verse says:
Madamada nakama wa iru hazu sa
Suiheisen mite 'ru to kanjiru yo
Madamada yaru koto ippai tte
Omou to gyaku ni ureshii ze!

My translation:
I still expect there to be friends.
When I see the [sea's] horizon, I feel it.
I'm happy when I think
that it's full of things still to be done.

Not sure how the "gyaku ni" fits in.


Another question, if anyone's still keen to help, a later verse says, at animelyrics,
Makesoo ni naru koto mo aru kedo
Kono bookensha hitori ja nai
Soo sa minna de iku n da!
Although there are times when it appears I lose
This adventurer is not alone
So we'll all walk together!

I've found three Japanese versions including the one linked to above (which also has errors) but they all say
Kono booken wa hitori ja nai
which doesn't make as much sense.
This adventure is not a one-person affair(?)

On the recording it sounds closer to
Kono booken da, hitori ja nai
which also doesn't make as much sense.
It's this adventure; I'm not alone

Any thoughts anyone?