is a Japanese gunka composed by in 1887. Its lyrics were originally written as a poem by in 1882. The song was based on the Battle of Tabaruzaka, and the poem that made up the lyrics was inspired by the 1854 English poem "The Charge of the Light Brigade". A variation of the song, titled "," has served as the march of the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force (JGSDF) since 2007.
The song references the Battà Âtai, who fought in the Battle of Tabaruzaka during the 1877 Satsuma Rebellion. Due to supply problems and heavy rain, the Satsuma rebels were forced to engage with the Imperial Japanese Army (IJA) in hand-to-hand combat. The Satsuma rebels inflicted heavy casualties against Imperial forces, who were mostly conscripts with no experience in wielding swords. Lieutenant General Yamagata Aritomo selected and deployed men from the surrounding area who were proficient with swords. He named this unit the Battà Âtai, or "Drawn-Sword regiment."
The song's lyrics were originally a poem written by . Toyama had been inspired by the English poem "The Charge of the Light Brigade" by Alfred, Lord Tennyson, which he had translated. He published "Poem of the Battà Âtai" in book Selection of Poetry in the New Style (ãÂÂæ°ä½Âè©©æÂÂãÂÂ), published 1882. Despite the name of the book, Toyama's poem was written in the "old style". The poem gained immediate popularity amongst boys and young men. The genre of gunka, the Japanese term for military music, gives a favorable bias towards themes of death.
, a French bandmaster and composer, arrived in Japan in 1876 as part of a French military advisory group. He composed a melody for "Battà Âtai" in 1887 that used both major and minor keys while he served as bandmaster of the Imperial Japanese Army Band.
"Battà Âtai" was first publicly performed the same year at a concert hosted by the Greater Japan Music Society at the Rokumeikan. It was considered the first Western-style military song in Japan and the first to become popular across the country, although it was initially believed to be difficult to sing for Japanese individuals unaccustomed to modulation.
Leroux took the tune of "Battà Âtai" and another one of his songs, "Fusà Âka", and created an arrangement called the . It was used as the official march of the IJA and was used to announce military successes during World War II. The march is still part of the repertoire of the military bands of the Japan Self-Defense Forces and the National Police Agency. It has been the march of the JGSDF since 2007.
The song's tune was borrowed for a song titled "The Normanton Sinks Beneath the Waves", written after the English ship Normanton sank off the coast of Japan. The tune was also used for a wide variety of songs, including "The Voice of the Pines," "The Tsingtao Motif," "Naramaru's Chaos," "The Ancient Moon and Flower," and "First Comes Ichinomiya Shrine."