[Translation] AX_WAT_516_SMZ_ATS - poetry reading

[njanjayrp]

I dunno. Perhaps you are right. However when you use "aishiteru" it's gender neutral, so she might be referring to someone else. Also the primary difference between using the word "koi" and "ai" is that the former is typically used to express romantic love for one person, while the latter is a more general form of love.

The PVs don't always reflect the actual song though. The song was advertised as a winter ballad and since it's essentially a love song it could have different meanings to different people.

To me the whole arigatou tte part sounds like she isn't speaking about her lover:

I wanted to say "Thank you"
I couldn't say "Thank you"
Because it's like "Good-bye for ever"
And too sad

I think it's more about saying goodbye to someone whose gone, but that's just me. Also Together When... and the whole thing about her being re-born kind of hint she is talking about meeting someone again when she dies.

[Chibi-Chan]

Originally Posted by KittyKathy

I have no doubt that Together When… is about Nagase. Even in the music video there is a guy who looks the same as him.

I don't know Japanese, but I think you can't say ''aishiteru'' to a friend.

You can. My female Japanese friends do this all the time. Since I don't think they are really in love with me, I'm sure they don't mean it in the same way they would say it to a lover.
But who knows, maybe I misinterpreted my last few dates.

[KittyKathy]

Ok. Like I said, I don't know Japanese. I just heard that word ''aishiteru'' is rarely used and that means a very intense emotion.

[Chibi-Chan]

^yeah, I somehow feel they say it more often among female friends than to an actual lover. But I guess it's the same with English. I mean, when you say it to your female friends, they know how you mean it, whereas you would hesistate more to say it to a man you like, unless you're in a serious relationship.
In German I would actually do the same. lol

[Machiko]

^ I keep hearing that "aishteru" is used actually more like... once in a life time with your partner, if ever, so in that way it's far far more serious than just "I love you" with a romantic partner.

[Zeke.]

Originally Posted by Machiko

^ I keep hearing that "aishteru" is used actually more like... once in a life time with your partner, if ever, so in that way it's far far more serious than just "I love you" with a romantic partner.

Idk my Japanese boyfriend said it to me twice already and we just officially started dating a week ago. Lol. But we’ve been hanging out for like 7 weeks or so already.

Idk all that shit I heard Japanese don’t say or do much seemed like just that, a bunch of shit, after I came to Japan. The other thing is 好き “Suki” is supposed so be like a kind of confession and this dude said it to me after we had been hanging for two weeks. Had me investigating how serious it actually was on google and crap lol and they still tried to sell it as a kind of confession.

[summerain]

Originally Posted by Machiko

^ I keep hearing that "aishteru" is used actually more like... once in a life time with your partner, if ever, so in that way it's far far more serious than just "I love you" with a romantic partner.

I was thinking about it when reading Utada's "Forevermore" translation. It could be interpreted as romantic love, but I guess it's written for her child ("others come and go but you're in my soul forevermore") and chorus it's just like "aishiteru, aishiteru". I think it's a word you use when you want to express a extremely deep bond.

But I don't know japanese and its nuances.

[Chibi-Chan]

I agree with Zeke, forget about all those chlichés you heard what Japanese people say or don't say. They are just that, chlichés. Of course Japanese couples tell each other "aishiteru", it simply depends on how serious the relationship is and then there are people who say it more easily than others. I know couples who say it all the time and also couples who don't really say it, simply because one of them isn't really sure how serious it is. Also my female friends use it a lot to express when they are gratefull for something and want to tell me how much our friendship means to them.
Honestly, this "once in a lifetime" cliché may have been true in the 50's, but not today anymore.

[tokyoxjapanxfan]

Koishiteru is something you’d tell you’re friends, that you’re in love with someone.
To say you love a significant other, be it husband wife friend etc, you say Aishiteru.

You’d never look at your husband, for example, and say “koishiteru”—that would imply you’re in love with someone else...

[Yoake]

Beside this linguistic culture, I think we shouldn't forget that this is included in a song. Sometime singers choose a word and not its synonym to fit the rhythm of the music.

Thanks for the translation.

[Machiko]

Weird, since they're always japanese (not even old people) who say that aishiteru is more serious than english "I love you".

[AyuCanada]

I think the song can both have a friendship or romantic meaning.

[orbitalaspect]

Originally Posted by AyuCanada

I think the song can both have a friendship or romantic meaning.

I like the idea of Nagase being the person Ayu means. It would make a lot of sense considering how much she's felt her life was upheaved after her and Nagase separated. To be fair, both guys she married look very, very similar to Nagase... Just not Japanese.

Also, I think it's safe to say Nagase hasn't and will never get over Ayu. It's largely unspoken, but if you look at Akina Nakamori and Kondo Masahiko, Akina still sings about being a broken woman. And that was 30 years ago.

TBH, I wouldn't be surprised if Ayu just called Nagase, they got married, and that was the successful marriage she'd been looking for the whole time. Happens a lot.

[tenshi no hane]

Nice translation, Yurai.

I also made a translation, if anyone's interested >> translation

[Aga-chan]

The reason why I never really felt "at home" on this forum is likely that for all the complaining that's going on hardly anyone tries to understand her. I have read the most ridiculous stuff on here. Like when Together When.. released and someone said "It's about Tomoya" and someone else said "She's long over him!" Right.
She's all about searching for true love. And she also knows that if you truely loved someone, you'll love that person forever. She knew that since her first album at the earliest, second album at the latest. I'd say Days is about the person she dated even before Nagase, so that you understand the scope, so to say. 11 years since breaking up is nothing for her. lol

I agree, though, that the lyrics can either be read to be about love or friendship. The friend of the past seems to be a common theme in her lyrics (see fairyland).

And saying Japanese people don't say "aishiteru" is like saying every Japanese eats sushi, or every Amrican watches football - you can't just generalise. How people use words is up to each individual, especially words of affection. Some might use "aishiteru" lightly, without any emotion behind it, some even sarcastically. How words are used also changes over time.

[BlackSilence]

It's just the same old. Megh.

[Aderianu]

If so, I want you to at least smile clumsily
when we pass each other somewhere
Hmmm... it's about someone who are alive

[FoxyPinkGirl]

Well people have to understand that he is her first true love. You never ever get over them, no matter what and how much time passes.

[Andrenekoi]

Originally Posted by FoxyPinkGirl

Well people have to understand that he is her first true love. You never ever get over them, no matter what and how much time passes.

We don't know neither her or him to make an assumption like that.

Ayu sings a lot about missing people from the past, but she also sings a lot about not being able to trust or fully love anyone.

[relmy]

The past is the past, we all have times where we wonder where someone we loved is, or how they're doing. It doesn't mean you love them, you can dislike someone and still have those feelings of 'what are we like now?'. Doesn't have to be even about one friend or lover, just the general... What if?

I feel like Ayu always covers that well. Both personally (what would past me think of me now?) and in the sense of other people, romantically and platonically. Her nostalgic songs are usually her best for me. You also always want to know who/what she's singing about in her life, but it's so easy with her songs to think 'this is me!!'.

Basically, it could both be about Nagase and not about him at the same time. It could be about all her relationships.