Title: フライデー・チャイナタウン (Flyday Chinatown)
Artist: Yasuha
Release Date: Sep 21, 1981
I’ve been getting more YouTube suggestion for Japanese City Pop lately and I had the pleasure of hearing Flyday Chinatown for the first time. People in the comments seem to have very different claims as to the meaning of the song, and I have found many of the English translations available are incredibly different. I will add my own interpretation, which is based off of some Japanese listeners’ interpretations of the song.
Romaji
It’s So Fly-Day
Fly-Day Chinatown
mayonaka no hitogomi ni
It’s So Fly-Day
Fly-Day Chinatown
hajikeru NEONSIGN
[collapse]
- イツ フライディ
- フライディ・チャイナタウン
- 真夜中の人ごみに
- イツ フライディ
- フライディ・チャイナタウン
- はじけるネオンサイン
- It’s so Flyday[1]In Japanese, the katakana for Fly-day and Friday are the same since L and R are written as the same character. Naturally, Japanese people also hear “Friday” and it would make sense in the context of the song. The singer appears to be going to Yokohama Chinatown for Hanakin(華金), the Japanese term going out after work on Friday to party all night. However, Yasuha specifically says that the lyric is “Flyday”. The general consensus is that “Flyday” has the meaning of “a day so good that you feel like you are flying”, while also having the double meaning of “Friday”.
- Flyday Chinatown
- In the midnight crowd
- It’s so Flyday
- Flyday Chinatown
- The neon signs pop
Romaji
kata ni butsukaru jingai
uinku o nageru
shirankao no anata
tomadoi no hito koma
odori tsukarete ite mo
asa made asobu wa
minato no mieru basho de
nanika nomitai no yo
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- 肩にぶつかる外人
- ウインクを投げる
- 知らん顔のあなた
- とまどいのひとコマ
- 踊りつかれていても
- 朝まで遊ぶわ
- 港の見える場所で
- 何か飲みたいのよ
- A foreigner bumps into my shoulder[2]The singer uses the word 人外(jingai) to refer to the person who bumps into her. This is a kind of a loophole way to say “gaijin”, but is now also considered derogatory.
- and throws me a wink
- You look as if you didn’t notice[3]The singer seems to have gone to Chinatown with someone. Some people think this is the foreigner, but she refers to them as “anata” so it is probably someone close to her.
- Lost in a scene from a movie
- Even though we’re tired from dancing
- we’ll play until morning
- I’d like something to drink
- someplace with a harbor view[4]This may be a reference to a place near Yokohama Chinatown called Harbor View Park. Of course, there are no bars there, but there are many high-class bars in Yokohama Chinatown that have a harbor view.
Romaji
It’s So Fly-Day
Fly-Day Chinatown
jasumin ni kuchidzuke wo
It’s So Fly-Day
Fly-Day Chinatown
watashi mo ikokujin ne
[collapse]
- イツ フライディ
- フライディ・チャイナタウン
- ジャスミンに接吻を
- イツ フライディ
- フライディ・チャイナタウン
- 私も異国人ね
- It’s so Flyday
- Flyday Chinatown
- Kissing with jasmine[5]Jasmine is a very common flower associated with China, especially jasmine tea.
- It’s so Flyday
- Flyday Chinatown
- Guess I’m a foreigner too[6]This line could mean that the singer finds Chinatown so exotic that although she is a Japanese person in Japan, she feels like she is in a different world. Some Japanese listeners also have noted how bold the singer as a woman in 80’s Japan, inviting a man to go out and leading him around dancing all night. Such boldness was a trait associated with foreigners. https://elicajoe.hateblo.jp/entry/2021/03/07/062145
Romaji
omise ni narabu
kinu no doresu wo yubisasu
shibuikao no anata
wagamama ga iitai
aisouwarai no obasan
kitto niau wa to
doko ka shizukana basho de
kigaete mitai no yo
[collapse]
- お店にならぶ
- 絹のドレスを指さす
- 渋い顔のあなた
- わがままが言いたい
- 愛想笑いのおばさん
- 「きっと似合うわ」と
- どこか静かな場所で
- 着替えてみたいのよ
- The shops are lined up
- I point at a silk dress
- You have a frown on your face
- I want to be spoiled[7]The singer is asking her significant other to buy a silk dress for her, hence the frown.
- The auntie with an insincere smile
- She says “Of course it’ll look nice on you”
- I’d like to try it on
- someplace where it’s quiet
Romaji
It’s So Fly-Day
Fly-Day Chinatown
kinuzure no tsukiakari
It’s So Fly-Day
Fly-Day Chinatown
watashi mo ikokujin ne
[collapse]
- イツ フライディ
- フライディ・チャイナタウン
- 絹ずれの月あかり
- イツ フライディ
- フライディ・チャイナタウン
- 私も異国人ね
- It’s so Flyday
- Flyday Chinatown
- The moonlight of rustling silk[8]The singer uses some wordplay here. She writes 絹ずれ (kinuzure), which is not an actual word but is literally translated as “silk rubbing”. There is a real word pronounced the same way though, 衣擦れ, which means the rustling of clothes rubbing together. I think we know what’s happening here.
- It’s so Flyday
- Flyday Chinatown
- Guess I’m a foreigner too
Romaji
It’s So Fly-Day
Fly-Day Chinatown
jasumin ni kuchidzuke wo
It’s So Fly-Day
Fly-Day Chinatown
watashi mo ikokujin ne
[collapse]
- イツ フライディ
- フライディ・チャイナタウン
- ジャスミンに接吻を
- イツ フライディ
- フライディ・チャイナタウン
- 私も異国人ね
- It’s so Flyday
- Flyday Chinatown
- Kissing with jasmine
- It’s so Flyday
- Flyday Chinatown
- Guess I’m a foreigner too
Notes
| ↑1 | In Japanese, the katakana for Fly-day and Friday are the same since L and R are written as the same character. Naturally, Japanese people also hear “Friday” and it would make sense in the context of the song. The singer appears to be going to Yokohama Chinatown for Hanakin(華金), the Japanese term going out after work on Friday to party all night. However, Yasuha specifically says that the lyric is “Flyday”. The general consensus is that “Flyday” has the meaning of “a day so good that you feel like you are flying”, while also having the double meaning of “Friday”. |
|---|---|
| ↑2 | The singer uses the word 人外(jingai) to refer to the person who bumps into her. This is a kind of a loophole way to say “gaijin”, but is now also considered derogatory. |
| ↑3 | The singer seems to have gone to Chinatown with someone. Some people think this is the foreigner, but she refers to them as “anata” so it is probably someone close to her. |
| ↑4 | This may be a reference to a place near Yokohama Chinatown called Harbor View Park. Of course, there are no bars there, but there are many high-class bars in Yokohama Chinatown that have a harbor view. |
| ↑5 | Jasmine is a very common flower associated with China, especially jasmine tea. |
| ↑6 | This line could mean that the singer finds Chinatown so exotic that although she is a Japanese person in Japan, she feels like she is in a different world. Some Japanese listeners also have noted how bold the singer as a woman in 80’s Japan, inviting a man to go out and leading him around dancing all night. Such boldness was a trait associated with foreigners. https://elicajoe.hateblo.jp/entry/2021/03/07/062145 |
| ↑7 | The singer is asking her significant other to buy a silk dress for her, hence the frown. |
| ↑8 | The singer uses some wordplay here. She writes 絹ずれ (kinuzure), which is not an actual word but is literally translated as “silk rubbing”. There is a real word pronounced the same way though, 衣擦れ, which means the rustling of clothes rubbing together. I think we know what’s happening here. |
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