Tsubasa wo Kudasai: Lyrics, Translation and Background

Tsubasa wo Kudasai (翼をください) means "please give me wings" and is one of the best-known songs in Japan. Michio Yamagami (山上路夫) wrote the lyrics and Kunihiko Murai (村井邦彦) composed the music for the Nemu Popular Festival '70, a contest held in Shima, in Mie Prefecture. The folk group Akai Tori (赤い鳥) performed the song at the festival, and on February 5, 1971 it was released as the B-side of their single Takeda no Komoriuta (竹田の子守唄).

The song soon reached far beyond that stage. Japanese music textbooks have included it since 1976, and it is still sung in music classes at schools in Japan, which is why it sounds familiar to almost every generation. It also returned through pop culture, with appearances in anime and films such as Evangelion: 2.0, Nichijou, K-On! and Danganronpa 3. The lyrics below follow the 1971 single, which leaves out one verse of the original.

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Song Lyrics

いま私の願いごとが かなうならば 翼がほしい
この背中に鳥のように 白い翼つけてください

この大空に翼をひろげ 飛んで行きたいよ
悲しみのない自由な空へ 翼はためかせ 行きたい

子供の時 夢見たこと
今も同じ夢に見ている

この大空に翼をひろげ 飛んで行きたいよ
悲しみのない自由な空へ 翼はためかせ

この大空に翼をひろげ 飛んで行きたいよ
悲しみのない自由な空へ 翼はためかせ 行きたい

Romanization of the song

Ima watashi no negaigoto ga kanau naraba tsubasa ga hoshii
Kono senaka ni tori no you ni shiroi tsubasa tsukete kudasai

Kono oozora ni tsubasa wo hiroge tonde yukitai yo
Kanashimi no nai jiyuu na sora e tsubasa hatamekase yukitai

Kodomo no toki yume mita koto
Ima mo onaji yume ni miteiru

Kono oozora ni tsubasa wo hiroge tonde yukitai yo
Kanashimi no nai jiyuu na sora e tsubasa hatamekase yukitai

Kono oozora ni tsubasa wo hiroge tonde yukitai yo
Kanashimi no nai jiyuu na sora e tsubasa hatamekase yukitai

Translation of the song

If my wish could come true now, I would want wings
Like a bird, please give me white wings on my back

I want to spread my wings in this vast sky and fly away
I want to flutter my wings toward a free sky without sorrow

The dream I had as a child is the same dream I still have today

I want to spread my wings in this vast sky and fly away
I want to flutter my wings toward a free sky without sorrow

I want to spread my wings in this vast sky and fly away
I want to flutter my wings toward a free sky without sorrow

Breaking down the song

いま私の願いごとが かなうならば 翼がほしい
Ima watashi no negaigoto ga kanau naraba tsubasa ga hoshii

If my wish could come true now, I would want wings.

• いま - 今 - now;
• 私 - I;
• 願い事 - wish, dream, request;
• かなう - to come true (a wish), to be granted;
• ならば - if;
• 翼 - wings;
• ほしい - I want, desire;

この背中に鳥のように 白い翼つけてください
Kono senaka ni tori no you ni shiroi tsubasa tsukete kudasai

Like a bird, please give me white wings on my back.

• この - this;
• 背中 - back;
• 鳥 - bird;
• のように - like a;
• 白い - white;
• 翼 - wings;
• つけて - attach, join, add, stick;
• ください - please;

この大空に翼をひろげ 飛んで行きたいよ
Kono oozora ni tsubasa wo hiroge tonde yukitai yo

I want to spread my wings in this vast sky and fly away.

• この - this;
• 大空 - vast sky, firmament;
• 翼 - wings;
• ひろげ - spread, unfold, open wide;
• 飛んで - to fly (te-form of 飛ぶ);
• 行きたいよ - want to go, with よ adding emphasis;

悲しみのない自由な空へ 翼はためかせ 行きたい
Kanashimi no nai jiyuu na sora e tsubasa hatamekase yukitai

I want to flutter my wings toward a free sky without sorrow.

• 悲しみ - sorrow;
• ない - not, without, negative;
• 自由 - freedom, free;
• 空 - sky;
• はためかせ - letting the wings flutter (from はためく, to flutter);

子供の時 夢見たこと 今も同じ夢に見ている
Kodomo no toki yume mita koto ima mo onaji yume ni mite iru

The dream I had as a child is the same dream I still have today.

• 子供 - child;
• 時 - time, era;
• 夢 - dream;
• 今 - now;
• 同じ - same;
• 見ている - to be dreaming (夢に見る means to dream of something);

Why the song still endures

Cover versions appeared early. In September 1973 Sumiko Yamagata recorded it for her folk album Ano hi no koto wa, and in 1991 Kaori Kawamura's rock version reached number 5 on the Oricon chart and sold around 280,000 copies. When Japan played the 1998 World Cup, the Japan Football Association used an official version by the folk duo Kamifūsen (紙ふうせん), released in April of that year, as its support song.

The recognition continued. In 2007 it was chosen for the Nihon no Uta Hyakusen (日本の歌百選), a selection of 100 Japanese songs, and Susan Boyle's English version played during the opening ceremony of the Tokyo Olympics in 2021. Hikaru Utada's First Love took a similar route from a television drama to a song that stays with listeners for decades.