Sing Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer in Japanese

The New Year (shogatsu) is the biggest and most important celebration in Japan. Christmas is not even a national holiday, although December 23 is, because of the Emperors birthday. However, the Japanese love to celebrate festivals and have adopted many Western customs, including Christmas. The Japanese celebrate Christmas in a uniquely Japanese way, starting with the way they say  Merry Christmas. There are many Christmas songs translated into Japanese. Here is the Japanese version of Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer or Akahana no Tonakai. Makka na ohana no tonakai-san wa çÅ"Ÿã  £Ã¨ µ ¤Ã£  ªÃ£ Å Ã© ¼ »Ã£  ®Ã£Æ'ˆãÆ'Šã‚ «Ã£â€š ¤Ã£ â€¢Ã£â€šâ€œÃ£  ¯ Itsumo minna no waraimono 㠁„㠁 ¤Ã£â€šâ€šÃ£  ¿Ã£â€šâ€œÃ£  ªÃ£  ®Ã§ ¬â€˜Ã£ â€žÃ£â€šâ€šÃ£  ® Demo sono toshi no kurisumasu no hi 㠁 §Ã£â€šâ€šÃ£  Ã£  ®Ã¥ ¹ ´Ã£  ®Ã£â€š ¯Ã£Æ' ªÃ£â€š ¹Ã£Æ'žã‚ ¹Ã£  ®Ã¦â€" ¥ Santa no ojisan wa iimashita ã‚ µÃ£Æ' ³Ã£â€š ¿Ã£  ®Ã£ Å Ã£ ËœÃ£ â€¢Ã£â€šâ€œÃ£  ¯Ã¨ ¨â‚¬Ã£ â€žÃ£  ¾Ã£ â€"㠁Ÿ Kurai yomichi wa pika pika no æšâ€"㠁„å ¤Å"é â€œÃ£  ¯Ã£  ´Ã£ â€¹Ã£  ´Ã£ â€¹Ã£  ® Omae no hana ga yaku ni tatsu no sa 㠁Šã  ¾Ã£ Ë†Ã£  ®Ã© ¼ »Ã£ Å'Ã¥ ½ ¹Ã£  «Ã§ «â€¹Ã£  ¤Ã£  ®Ã£ â€¢ Itsumo naiteta tonakai-san wa 㠁„㠁 ¤Ã£â€šâ€šÃ¦ ³ £Ã£ â€žÃ£  ¦Ã£ Å¸Ã£Æ'ˆãÆ'Šã‚ «Ã£â€š ¤Ã£ â€¢Ã£â€šâ€œÃ£  ¯ Koyoi koso wa to yorokobimashita ä »Å Ã¥ ® µÃ£ â€œÃ£  Ã£  ¯Ã£  ¨Ã¥â€"Å"㠁 ³Ã£  ¾Ã£ â€"㠁Ÿ Rudolph the Red-Nose Reindeer Lyrics The original version is not translated literally into Japanese and skips certain parts that are known well in the English. Rudolph, the red-nosed reindeer Had a very shiny nose. And if you ever saw it, You would even say it glows. All of the other reindeer Used to laugh and call him names. They never let poor Rudolph Join in any reindeer games. Then, one foggy Christmas Eve, Santa came to say, Rudolph, with your nose so bright, Wont you guide my sleigh tonight? Then, how the reindeer loved him! And they shouted out with glee: Rudolph, the red-nosed reindeer, Youll go down in history! Japanese Vocabulary and Lyrics Explained Line-by-Line Makka  na  ohana no  tonakai-san  wa makka (çÅ"Ÿã  £Ã¨ µ ¤): bright redhana (é ¼ »): nosetonakai  (ãÆ'ˆãÆ'Šã‚ «Ã£â€š ¤): reindeer Ma (çÅ"Ÿ) is a prefix to emphasize the noun that follows, as here with makka (çÅ"Ÿã  £Ã¨ µ ¤), or like in makkuro  (çÅ"Ÿã  £Ã© »â€™), black as ink, or manatsu (çÅ"Ÿå ¤ ), the middle of summer. The prefix o is added to hana,  nose, for politeness. The names of animals are sometimes written in katakana, even if they are native Japanese words. In songs or childrens books, san is often added to the names of the animals to make them more like humans or for friendliness. Itsumo  minna  no  waraimono itsumo  (㠁„㠁 ¤Ã£â€šâ€š): alwaysminna (㠁 ¿Ã£â€šâ€œÃ£  ª): everyonewaraimono  (ç ¬â€˜Ã£ â€žÃ£â€šâ€šÃ£  ®): an object of ridicule ~mono (~者) is a suffix to describe the nature of the person. Examples include waraimono  (ç ¬â€˜Ã£ â€žÃ¨â‚¬â€¦), the  person who is made fun of, and ninkimono (ä º ºÃ¦ °â€"者), the person who is popular. Demo  sono  toshi  no  kurisumasu  no hi toshi  (Ã¥ ¹ ´): a yearkurisumasu  (ã‚ ¯Ã£Æ' ªÃ£â€š ¹Ã£Æ'žã‚ ¹): Christmas Kurisumasu  (ã‚ ¯Ã£Æ' ªÃ£â€š ¹Ã£Æ'žã‚ ¹) is written in katakana because it is an English word. Demo (㠁 §Ã£â€šâ€š) means however or but. It is a conjunction used at the beginning of a sentence. Santa no  ojisan  wa  iimashita santa (ã‚ µÃ£Æ' ³Ã£â€š ¿): Santa Clausiu  (è ¨â‚¬Ã£ â€ ): to say Although ojisan  (㠁Šã ËœÃ£ â€¢Ã£â€šâ€œ) means uncle, it is also used when addressing a man. Kurai  yomichi  wa  pika pika  no kurai  (æšâ€"㠁„): darkyomichi  (Ã¥ ¤Å"é â€œ): night journey Pika pika (ãÆ'”ã‚ «Ã£Æ'”ã‚ «) is one of the onomatopoeic expressions. It describes giving off a bright light (hoshi  ga  pika pika  hikatte  iru  (星㠁Å'ãÆ'”ã‚ «Ã£Æ'”ã‚ «Ã¥â€¦â€°Ã£  £Ã£  ¦Ã£ â€žÃ£â€šâ€¹), the stars are twinkling) or the glittering of a polished object (kutsu o  pika pika  ni  migaita  (é  ´Ã£â€šâ€™Ã£Æ'”ã‚ «Ã£Æ'”ã‚ «Ã£  «Ã§ £ ¨Ã£ â€žÃ£ Å¸), I gave my shoes a good shine). Omae no  hana  ga  yaku  ni  tatsu  no  sa yaku  ni  tatsu  (Ã¥ ½ ¹Ã£  «Ã§ «â€¹Ã£  ¤): useful Omae (㠁Šå‰ ) is a  personal pronoun, and means you in an informal situation. It should not be used to your superior. Sa (㠁•) is a  sentence ending particle  which emphasizes the sentence. Itsumo  naiteta  tonakai-san  wa naku  (æ ³ £Ã£  ): to cry ~teta (~㠁 ¦Ã£ Å¸) or ~teita (~㠁 ¦Ã£ â€žÃ£ Å¸) is the past progressive. ~teta is more colloquial. It is used to describe past habitual action or past states of being. To make this form, attach ~ta or ~ita to te  form of the verb, like so: itsumo  naiteta  tonakai-san (㠁„㠁 ¤Ã£â€šâ€šÃ¦ ³ £Ã£ â€žÃ£  ¦Ã£ Å¸Ã£Æ'ˆãÆ'Šã‚ «Ã£â€š ¤Ã£ â€¢Ã£â€šâ€œ), the reindeer that used to cry all the time. Another example, terebi o mite  ita  (ãÆ'†ãÆ' ¬Ã£Æ'“ã‚’è ¦â€¹Ã£  ¦Ã£ â€žÃ£ Å¸), means, I was watching TV. Koyoi  koso  wa  to  yorokobimashita koyoi  ( ä »Å Ã¥ ® µ): tonightyorokobu  (Ã¥â€"Å"㠁 ¶): to be pleased Koyoi (ä »Å Ã¥ ® µ) means this evening or tonight, is usually used as  literary  language. Konban (ä »Å Ã¦â„¢ ©) or konya  (ä »Å Ã¥ ¤Å") is commonly used in conversation.