Kimi ga yo no kazu ni wa shikaji kagiri naki Chisaka no ura no masago nari tomo - Senzai Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

君が代の数には如かじ限りなき
千坂の浦の真砂なりとも

Roma-ji: Kimi ga yo no kazu ni wa shikaji kagiri naki Chisaka no ura no masago nari tomo
English Translation: They could not equal
the number of my lord's years,
though they be the sands,
countless and without an end,
upon the shore of Chisaka
Meaning: Even the grains of sand on the shore of Chisaka, countless and without end, could never equal the number of the years of my lord's reign.
Commentary: Book Ten Poems of Celebration 637

Headnote: "Composed on the shore of Chisaka in Ōmi Province as a provincial song for the Yuki side at the Great Thanksgiving Festival of the first year of Heiji"
Composed on the shore of Chisaka in Ōmi as a provincial song for the Yuki side at Emperor Nijō's Great Thanksgiving Festival in 1159. They could not equal the number of my lord's years, he says, even the boundless sands of the shore of Chisaka. Saying that even the countless grains of sand on the beach fall short of the years of the reign, the poem celebrates the endurance of the new emperor's reign.
The author, "Councilor Toshinori," was the son of Junior Counselor Fujiwara no Michinori, better known as the lay priest Shinzei. He rose to Councilor but was exiled after the Heiji Disturbance.
Like 633 of this book, which says that even the needles of the pines of Matsuyama are few beside my lord's years, this poem holds that even the uncountable falls short of the number of years of the reign. It also shares with 615, which saw the waves of the Uji River as the number of a thousand ages, the celebration of endurance through number.

First line, "kimi ga yo no": "of my lord's reign." It echoes "kimi ga yo wa" in 609 and "kimi ga yo ni" in 633 of this book.
Second line, "kazu ni wa shikaji": "shika" is the irrealis of "shiku," "to equal," and "ji" the negative conjectural, "they will not equal." The poem pauses here and stands in inverted order with the lines that follow.
Third line, "kagiri naki": "without limit in number," modifying "masago" in the last line.
Fourth line, "Chisaka no ura no": the shore of Chisaka is a place in Ōmi, weaving in a place name of the Yuki province. The "chi," "thousand," of the name suggests a great number.
Fifth line, "masago nari tomo": "masago" is fine sand, and "tomo" a concessive conjunctive particle, "even though they be the sands."
Author: Fujiwara no Toshinori
Source: Senzai Wakashu
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