Hibari Misora (美空ひばり Misora Hibari, May 29, 1937 - June 24, 1989) was a Ja… Read Full Bio ↴Hibari Misora (美空ひばり Misora Hibari, May 29, 1937 - June 24, 1989) was a Japanese singer and the predominant figure in postwar enka music. Born Kazue Kato (加藤和枝) in Yokohama, she was an accomplished singer by the age of seven, and appeared in film for the first time at age 12. Between 1949's Kanashiki kuchibue and 1971's Onna no Hanamichi, she appeared in over 60 movies.

In April of 1987, on the way to a performance in Fukuoka, she suddenly collapsed. Rushed to hospital, she was diagnosed with bilateral femoral necrosis brought on by chronic hepatitis. Until August she was confined to hospital and eventually showed signs of recovery. She commenced recording a new song Midaregami in October, and in 1988 performed at a concert called Fushichou konsaato (Phoenix Concert) at the Tokyo Dome. Against overwhelming pain in her legs, she performed a total of 39 songs while assuring her fans that she had completely recovered. However, on 24 May 1989, having been re-admitted to the Juntendou hospital in Tokyo, she died from interstitial pneumonitis at the age of 52.

In July 1989 after her death, she became the first female recipient of the National Prize of Honour (国民栄誉賞) for her longstanding contributions to the music industry.

In 1993, the Misora Hibari-kan opened in Arashiyama, Kyoto. Its popularity with fans and tourists has endured through to the present.

Her most famous song, "Kawa no nagare no yō ni," (1989) was voted #1 in a 1997 NHK poll of the best Japanese songs of all time.

港が見える丘
美空ひばり Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

あなたと二人で来た丘は
港が見える丘
色あせた桜唯一つ
淋しく咲いていた
船の汽笛咽(むせ)び泣けば
チラリホラリと花片(はなびら)
あなたと私に降りかかる
春の午後でした

あなたと別れたあの夜は
港が暗い夜
青白い灯り唯一つ
桜を照らしてた
船の汽笛消えて行けば
チラリチラリと花片

涙の雫できらめいた
霧の夜でした

Overall Meaning

The lyrics to 美空ひばり's song 港が見える丘 describe two separate occasions where the singer is on a hill that overlooks a port. The first is with the person she is addressing in the song, where they both see the port from the hilltop covered in cherry blossoms. The blossoms are described only using adjectives like “faded” and “solitary,” suggesting that the beauty of the moment is bittersweet. The sound of a ship's whistle crying in the distance accents the feeling of melancholy. The second occasion is after she has separated from the person she was with previously. The night is dark, and the light from the port’s lone lamp shines to illuminate the cherry blossoms as before. But now the ship's whistle fades away, and the scene is foggy, causing the singer to describe it as a “tear drop shining in a foggy night.”

Line by Line Meaning

あなたと二人で来た丘は
The hill that we came together, you and I,

港が見える丘
is a hill from which one can see the harbor.

色あせた桜唯一つ
The only cherry blossom that was fading in color,

淋しく咲いていた
was blooming in a lonely way.

船の汽笛咽(むせ)び泣けば
When the ship's whistle choked and cried,

チラリホラリと花片(はなびら)
The flower petals fluttered here and there.

あなたと私に降りかかる
It fell upon you and me.

春の午後でした
It was a spring afternoon.

あなたと別れたあの夜は
The night when I parted with you,

港が暗い夜
was a dark night by the harbor.

青白い灯り唯一つ
The only pale light,