If for some reason you have always wanted to learn in Japanese the Christmas classic “Jingle Bells” (and we also want to know the reason in the comments, though), then Pikachu is here to come to your aid.
We learn to sing Jingle Bells in Japanese, thanks to Pikachu, Eevee and Sudowoodo
The official YouTube channel of Pokémon Kids TV, on the occasion of the Christmas holidays, has in fact broadcast in videos in which Pikachu and a couple of friends (pokémon and not) dance and sing the famous song, accompanied by subtitles in hiragana in full karaoke style Japanese. All while Sudowoodo improvises himself as a Christmas tree.
Here is the video:
How do you say? Don’t you know you can read hiragana? So here is the translation in Latin characters:
Hashire sori yo, kaze no you ni
(Go, sled, like the wind!)
Yuki no naka o, karuku hayaku
(Fast and light through the snow)
Waraigoe or yuki ni makeba
(If we spread laughter across the snow)
Akarui hikari no hana ni naru yo
(It’ll become a bright flower of light)
Jinguru beru, jinguru beru, suzu ga naru
(Jingle bells, jingle bells, the bells jingle)
Susu no rizumu ni hikari no wa ga mau
(A circle of light dances to the rhythm of the bells)
Jinguru beru, jinguru beru, suzu ga naru
(Jingle bells, jingle bells, the bells jingle)
Mori ni, hayashi ni, hibikinagara
(As their sound echoes in the forest and woods)
Hashire sori yo, oka no ue wa
(Go, sled! Above the hills)
Yuki mo shiroku kaze mo shiroku
(The snow is white, and the wind is white too)
Utau koe wa tondeyuku yo
(Our singing voices take flight)
Kagayaki hajimeta hoshi no sora e
(Into the sky where the stars have begun to shine)
Jinguru beru, jinguru beru, suzu ga naru
(Jingle bells, jingle bells, the bells jingle)
Susu no rizumu ni hikari no wa ga mau
(A circle of light dances to the rhythm of the bells)
Jinguru beru, jinguru beru, suzu ga naru
(Jingle bells, jingle bells, the bells jingle)
Mori ni, hayashi ni, hibikinagara
(As their sound echoes in the forest and woods)
Jinguru beru, jinguru beru, suzu ga naru
(Jingle bells, jingle bells, the bells jingle)
Susu no rizumu ni hikari no wa ga mau
(A circle of light dances to the rhythm of the bells)
Jinguru beru, jinguru beru, suzu ga naru
(Jingle bells, jingle bells, the bells jingle)
Mori ni, hayashi ni, hibikinagara
(As their sound echoes in the forest and woods)
And if you’re wondering why Pikachu ages rapidly towards the end of the video, this is a reference to Urashima Taro, a Japanese folk tale about a man who saved a sea turtle, who was actually the beautiful daughter of the mythical emperor of the seas.
For his kindness, Taro was rewarded by being allowed to live with the princess in her palace at the bottom of the ocean, living in timeless bliss for many years. When he finally chose to return to the mainland, he was given a box and told never to open it. When Taro ignored the warning, the entire time he had been in the palace magically returned to his body, turning him into an elder in the blink of an eye.
