[ENG sub] DIR EN GREY ● Kasumi (かすみ)

"かすみ - Kasumi" - "Haze"

This wonderful live version can be found on the "TOUR16-17 FROM DEPRESSION TO ________ [mode of VULGAR]" DVD which came out in 2017.

While I was trying to stay as close to the original lyrics as possible, I also wanted to avoid ruining the song's spellbinding atmosphere with clumsy phrasing. I focused on conveying images and emotions, so the final outcome might not always be word-for-word.

Notes:
0) It is unclear whether the title refers to the "hazy" (mysterious) nature of the song or not. In any case, "Kasumi" is also a name for a girl.

1) 0:40 - "月読み葬の闇へ - tsukiyomi sou no yami e"
I wouldn't go so far as to say this line is untranslatable, but it surely is a tricky one. Like an onion, it has many layers that can be peeled off. [Like an onion, it also made me cry...]
The word Kyo uses for "moon" is a very poetic one. "月読み - tsukiyomi". It is also a variation of the Japanese moon god's name Tsukuyomi. In this case, Kyo wrote it with the kanji for moon (月) and the kanji for reading/counting (読). Counting moons is exactly what you think it is - the passage of time, the repeating cycle of the moon, and what we know as months. Some also consider Tsukuyomi to be the god of nighttime, or say that he is connected to the afterlife because "yomi" also means "realm of the dead / afterworld / underworld".
What is interesting is that Yomi, the realm of the dead, is said to be located underground and that the image we have of it might be "derived from ancient Japanese tombs in which corpses were left for some time to decompose". (Wikipedia)
Why am I mentioning this? Because the next kanji Kyo uses is "葬 - sou" - "burial".
If you just translate the whole line literally you get: "moon burial darkness". Or "the darkness of a buried moon". The everlasting darkness you get when you bury the moon, when you stop the passage of time, when morning never comes. An eternal night, if you will.
In the end, it is but a condensed way of saying all that.
And the image of reading in total darkness is later picked up again when Kyo sings about reading the child a picture book.

2) 1:06 - "虫 - mushi" is just "insects", but Kyo was probably describing the loud incessant noise of cicadas. This noise is often associated with melancholy in Japan.

3) 1:06 - Gion is a district of Kyoto (Kyo's hometown) in front of Yasaka Shrine.
"The district was built to accommodate the needs of travelers and visitors to the shrine. It eventually evolved to become one of the most exclusive and well-known geisha districts in all of Japan." - Wikipedia

4) 1:06 - I know it could be argued why I chose to translate "扇子 - sensu" instead of keeping that word and explaining it in the notes. I felt like it would fit the flow of the sentence. There's no break in immersion. Reading this line, you have an exact image of this object in your head right away without wondering what a ~sensu~ might be.

5) 1:32 - "紙風船 - kamifuusen", "paper balloons", are colorful toys for children that come in many different forms and shapes, from plain round balls to fruits, fish and all sorts of animals. Since they are made out of thin paper, you normally wouldn't see them fly - especially not high up to the sky. I really liked what centigrade-j wrote about this once: "Kyo paints a surrealistic vision that we can only assume is a dream. [...] Later in the song Kyo's mention of a windless day seems to recall this image."

6) 3:49 - "十三時 - juusanji" Maybe it would have been easier to read as "one o'clock", but at the loss of the unlucky number, the number of death, the number thirteen? This was clearly an important number. Especially since another number for death was mentioned earlier. Four.

7) 4:00 - Yes, I know. First I translate "sensu", then I go on and don't translate "tatami" properly. The difference is: It's literally the last word in the song. And tatami mat is a thing you might have heard before. These mats are made out of rice straw and are used as flooring in traditionally designed rooms in Japan. They are about 0.9 meter by 1.8 meter, depending on the region.
Here are two interesting facts about tatami mats:
Some say that the edges of a tatami mat are a gateway to another world, thus stepping on them brings bad luck.
Some tatami borders also have the family emblems engraved on them, thus stepping on the border is said to be "stepping on your parents head".


~This is my translation / interpretation.

Find me on:
Tumblr: @ itoshii-sanagi & @ shakunetsu
Twitter: @ periathan_
Instagram: @ periathan_