by Dahni

   Remember the music I heard at McDonald's in Moriyama and it seemed like the whole country got involved to try and help me find out about it? Well, not every day, but quite often, I would begin my mornings with a cup of coffee from this same McDonald’s in Moriyama. It was always clean, staff-courteous, accommodating and friendly and it was always inviting. It was a comfortable place to just hang out. I would sit, drink my coffee and watch people come in and out. I would listen to music over their sound system which was always in Japanese and I was always clueless to the meaning of the words being sung. This did not prevent me from enjoying it anyway, as music, a universal language, has a way of communicating.

   One particular morning, July 29th, 2006 to be precise, when I came in, a new song was playing. I was instantly drawn to the beautiful sounds and the soothing voice of the singer.

   Armed with only a book of Japanese words with pronunciations and English translations and my limited understanding, I set out to try and find out all I could about this song. Our friend and affectionately adopted Japanese daughter, Yukari, told me it was from an animated movie called Gedo Senki (Tales from Earthsea). Knowing that I had become fond of Japanese music while in Japan (traditional and modern), her brother made me a DVD with several videos of Japanese Music, including this particular song. To this day and sadly, I cannot find this disk.

   One day before we left Japan in August 06', I was inside a music store and all I could remember or pronounce was Gedo Senki. A store clerk helped me find the CD with this song as a single.

   It has taken me nearly eight years to find out all the information I wanted to know then and to find the translation of the words in English. I share here with you friend-reader that you may enjoy this haunting and beautiful song as I have. 

Gedo Senki (Tales from Earthsea ゲド戦記 is a feature anime film from Studio Ghibli, released in Japan on July 29, 2006. It was the first film directed by Gorō Miyazaki, son of the famous animator, Hayao Miyazaki. The movie is loosely based on a combination of plots and characters from the first, third, and fourth books of the Earthsea series, A Wizard of Earthsea, The Farthest Shore, and Tehanu, by Ursula K. Le Guin. The movie was number one in Japan for a long time.

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