Aka tombo

1. Yuyake koyake no
   Akatombo…
   Owarete mitano wa
   Itsu no hi ka
2. Yama no hatake no
   Kuwano mi o
   Kokago ni tsunda wa
   Maboroshi ka
3. Jugo de neya wa
   Yome ni yuki…
   Osato no tayori mo
   Taehateta
4. Yuyake koyake no
   Akatombo…
   Tomatte iru yo
   Sao no saki

Oh, red dragonfly… red dragonfly at twilight…
I saw you for the first time while still a baby being carried on my sister's back…
Could it be that long ago?

Picking mulberries from the mountain field…
And our little baskets…
Was that all a dream?

My sister got married when she was fifteen…
And moved far, far away.
She no longer sends news to our village.

Oh, red dragonfly… red dragonfly at twilight…
I see you resting there on the tip of the bamboo reed.

Lyrics by Miki Rofu; Melody by Yamada Kosaku

English translation by Dianne Ooka, in Yoko Imoto, Best-Loved Children's Songs from Japan
(Torrance: Heian International, 1996).