Atarashii Gakko no Leaders -- Toryanse

 

The Japanese expression "toryanse"（通りゃんせ）was something that I hadn't been too clued in about for the longest time, and yet I heard it all the time without being aware of it. It's often been the cute chime that plays during the WALK signal for intersections including the closest one to my old apartment in Ichikawa City. 

So, the rhetorical question of the day is "Why play this here?". Well, "Toryanse" happens to be an ancient Edo era children's nursery rhyme turned into song. And the poem-turned-song comes across as this (the translation is from Jon Wilks Online):

Let me pass, let me pass

What is this narrow pathway here?

This is the narrow pathway of the Tenjin Shrine

Please allow me to pass through

Those without good reason shall not pass

To celebrate this child’s seventh birthday,

We’ve come to dedicate our offering

Going there is fine, but to return is frightening

I am scared, but let me pass.

Let me pass . . .

Yes, indeed there is the aspect of being permitted to cross which is why "Toryanse" was adopted as the chime music for pedestrian crossings. According to Wikipedia, the song also included the element of celebrating a child's 7th birthday since during the time of the song's creation, child mortality was high so even making it to seven was an occasion for great celebration. Being allowed to pass the entrance into the temple facilities within a famous castle (supposedly Kawagoe Castle) was only done during special occasions such as these. As one person online mentioned, "Toryanse" is a rather haunting tune.

I have heard the term being used in other kayo kyoku including a Mariko Takahashi（高橋真梨子）song whose title escapes me for the moment, and I think it's been added as a way of putting a bit more wistful pathos into the song. However, that's certainly not the case for the topic tune here.

By the way, the reason that I've brought in Atarashii Gakko no Leaders（新しい学校のリーダーズ）today is that I found out last weekend from my brother (which is pretty ironic because he's not really a fan of Japanese music at all aside from a few tunes by Hiromi Iwasaki and Anzen Chitai) that the wild n' crazy quartet will be returning to Toronto. Suzuka and the gang are holding a performance later this fall on October 6th at the HISTORY venue close by where Greenwood Racetrack used to be just a stone's throw away from Lake Ontario.

Earlier this year, I'd posted their February 2024 single "Hello (from The Tiger’s Apprentice)". Well, just a couple of weeks earlier than that, Atarashii Gakko no Leaders had put up another single titled "Toryanse" which uses the original poem/song as a motif. Nothing wistful or pathos-laden here, though. It's more like hit the dance floor and bounce, and according to the J-Wiki writeup, AGL has incorporated some Brazilian funk into the electronica dance beats flying all about. I definitely get the setting in the music video, and it looks like Rin, Mizyu and Kanon also get their chance to sing out their parts a bit more. Plus, we get their usual nifty dancing.