Sakura is how you say cherry tree in Japanese. You can write Sakura in Japanese as 桜or 櫻. This song is called Hana, which means blossoms. Hana is synonymous with cherry blossoms in Japan, especially in traditional literature.

When the Cherry Blossoms bloom in March or April, people in Japan have Cherry Blossom viewing parties called Hanami. You can read more about Hanami on Mama Lisa's World Blog!

Notes

*The Sumida River, which runs along the banks of Tokyo, Japan.

Coco wrote:

I saw that you wanted the full romaji text to this song. I speak Japanese so i translated it into romaji, hope it helps. This is based off of the Japanese lyrics you have on your site. - Coco Nakano

Pronunciation

Hana

Haru no urara no sumida gawa
Nobori kudari no funabito ga
Kahi no shizuku mo hana to chiru
Nagame wo nani ni tatoubeki.

Mizuya akebo no tsuyu abite
Wareni mono iu sakuragi wo
Mizuya yuugure te wo nobete
Ware sashi maneku aoyagi wo.

Nishiki orinasu choutei ni
Kurureba noboru oborozuki
Geni ikkoku mo senkin no
Nagame wo nani ni tatoubeki.

Composer: Rentarō Taki／作曲：滝　廉太郎
Lyrics：Hagoromo Takeshima／作詞：武島　羽衣
Year: 1900

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Many thanks to Susan Pomerantz for playing this tune on piano.

Thanks and Acknowledgements

Many thanks to the Japan Information and Culture Center, a part of the Embassy of Japan, for contributing this song, the translation, illustration and the sheet music. Thanks to Coco Nakano and Intorn Wattana for the romaji text. Thanks to Mel B., Jasmin Duncan, and Yoko Collier-Sanuki for the Japanese text.

Arigato gozaimasu!