Hashizoroe is the main theme song of Kuon. The song is sung by The Mulberry Twins in the game.
Lyrics[]
Japanese[]
はしぞろえ はしぞろえ
御簾（みす）に映った唐衣（からごろも)
お化けつづらに 鼓の音
桑の実をつけた華褥（はなしとね）
絹糸つむぐ まがいだま
しずかに揺れる はしぞろえ
ひとえに響く きらい箸
はしぞろえ
はしぞろえ はしぞろえ
影にほつるる 舞衣（まいごろも）
ただよい歩む 夕月夜
これより鳥辺野（とりべの） やしろみち
二度は戻れぬ 繰りもうで
ふるえて揺れる 髪かかり
重ねて映す きらい箸
はしぞろえ
はしぞろえ はしぞろえ
赤く実った 小石丸（こいしまる）
繭（まよ）に滲むる やぶつばき
ここのつおんぞを 重ねいて
ひとえに戻る まがいだま
九遠の弔（とむら） 祓串（はらえぐし）
夢事（ゆめごと）に散らむ きらい箸
はしぞろえ
Romaji[]
hashizoroe hashizoroe
misu ni utsutta karagoromo
obake tsuzura ni tsuzumi no ne
kuwa no mi wo tsuketa hana shitone
kinuito tsumugu magaidama
shizuka ni yureru hashizoroe
hitoe ni hibiku kiraibashi
hashizoroe
hashizoroe hashizoroe
kage ni hotsururu maigoromo
tadayoi ayumu yuzukuyo
kore yori Toribeno yashiro michi
nido wa modorenu kurimou de
furuete yureru kami kakari
kasanete utsusu kiraibashi
hashizoroe
hashizoroe hashizoroe
akaku minotta koishimaru
mayo ni nijimuru yabutsubaki
kokonotsu onzo wo kasaneite
hitoe ni modoru magaidama
kuon no tomura haraegushi
yumegoto ni chiramu kiraibashi
hashizoroe
English[]
hashizoroe, hashizoroe
the shadow of a karagoromo on the blind
a clothes hamper full of monsters and the sound of a drum
a shitone with a mulberry fruit on it
a magaidama spinning silk thread
quivering silently, hashizoroe
kiraibashi echoing humbly
hashizoroe
hashizoroe, hashizoroe
a maigoromo shrouded in shadow
wandering through the moonlit evening
continuing to the shrine path to Toribeno
repeating, unable to go back
tufts of hair waving
shown as one, kiraibashi
hashizoroe
hashizoroe, hashizoroe
a red-ripened koishimaru
a cocoon spread across a red camellia
pile up the nine robes
a magaidama returning to singularity
eternal mourning, purifying stakes
scattered as a dream, kiraibashi
hashizoroe
Meaning of some lyrics[]
Hashizoroe: Refers to the ritual in which a baby that has grown its teeth is fed its first meal. It also wishes that the child never goes hungry, growing healthily. Perhaps these words are a prayer for the ritual's success to the twins.
Karagoromo / Maigoromo: Both are Heian period outfits. This is one of the phrases that represents the era in which the song is being sung (the time in which the game is set).
Hana shitone: A shitone is a type of matting used for sleeping and sitting on. Matting with a mulberry fruit on... This could perhaps refer to the silkworms sleeping in the mulberry tree, or maybe to the wicker chest in which the test subjects sleep.
Magaidama: The word itself has no specific meaning, but from the lyrics in the third verse, "pile up the nine robes and return them to one," you can imagine it perhaps referring to the subject during the rite. Though you could also take it to mean the mulberry fruit or their new (imitation) soul...
Kiraibashi: Ways in which chopsticks should never be handled. Sometimes it also refers to people who are poor at using chopsticks, leading others to dislike them. Maybe a hint at the forbidden, undesirable techniques used in the "Kuon".
Toribeno: A cemetery at the base of Mt. Higashiyama in Kyoto. Carrying on from the next part, "you can never return ...", it may perhaps represent that this rite does not bring the dead back, but rather is another kind of burial rite.
Koishimaru: A legendary cocoon. It is said to be particularly difficult to raise the silkworms that spin it, and as such its cocoons garner a high value. As well as indicating the creation of a cocoon, it is a phrase that seems to imply the difficulty of completing the rite.