Almost no roses can be seen in the garden that spreads out from the cafe window in the rose garden. The faintly flowing “Shiki no Uta (A Song of Four Seasons)” violently shake my heart.  This song, written and composed by the lyricist Toyohisa Araki in the early 1960s, became a big hit in the mid-1970s, ten years later.  Various singers have sung by then, but the songs sung by Yoko Seri spread all over the country in a blink of an eye.  Since NHK was broadcasting this song on overseas broadcasts, it became even more popular in China.  Yoko Seri was invited to China many times as a national singer and was presented with a Chinese dress by President Hu Jintao at the time, and has been friends from that time with the wife, Peng Liyuan, of Xi Jinping who is hated from all over the the world as if an enemy now. In this way, “Shiki no Uta” became a big bridge during the day.  Since Heine in this song was a friend of Marx, it seems to be related to having been loved by Mao Tse Tung or Lu Xun.

バラ園に建つカフェ窓から広がる園内にはもうほとんどバラも見えません。微かに流れてくる「四季の歌」がやけに心を震わせます。

1960年代前半に作詞家の荒木とよひさが作詞・作曲したこの歌は、10年後の1970年半ばにひょんなきっかけで大ヒット。それまでにもいろんな歌手が歌ってきましたが、芹洋子の歌う歌が瞬く間に全国に広がりました。NHKが海外放送でこの歌を流していた事もあって、中国でも大人気。芹洋子は国民的歌手と言う事で、何度も中国に招かれ、当時の胡錦濤主席からチャイナドレスを贈られたり、今や世界中から目の敵にされている習近平の夫人である彭麗媛とはその頃からの付き合いであったりで、「四季の歌」は日中の大きな架け橋になりました。この歌に出てくるハイネがマルクスと友達であったことから、毛沢東や魯迅にも愛されたことも関係がありそうです。