These are the opening words of one of the most famous poems in
Japanese history, a
tanka by
Edo era scholar
Motoori Norinaga which was later used, among other jingoistic purposes, to fortify the spirits of Japanese
kamikaze pilots during
World War II. A testament to its power as an enduring instrument of Japanese patriotism, it hangs, written in gorgeous
calligraphy, on a scroll in the atrium of the
Yushukan war museum on the grounds of the
Yasukuni War Shrine in
Tokyo.
敷島の
大和心を
人問はば
朝日に匂ふ
山桜花
shikishima no
yamato-gokoro o
hito towaba
asahi ni niou
yamazakura-bana
My best translation is:
If someone inquires
about the Japanese soul
of these Blessed Isles,
say mountain cherry blossoms,
fragrant in the morning sun.
It is no coincidence that the first four kamikaze units ever created were named "Shikishima," "Yamato," "Asahi," and "Yamazakura."