is a song written by Japanese band Begin and singer Ryoko Moriyama. It was first released by Moriyama in 1998, but achieved popularity through the cover version by Rimi Natsukawa in 2001.
The song first appears in Ryoko Moriyama's discography in 1998, as a track on her album Time Is Lonely, an album which did not even break the top 100 Oricon albums chart.
Moriyama re-released the song as the second A-side of the single "Satà Âkibi-batake/Nada Sà Âsà Â" in 2001, after Rimi Natsukawa's version had become popular. In 2003, a single featuring a special live version featuring Moriyama, Begin and Natsukawa was released.
Moriyama and Begin met after performing at live events together in the late 1990s. Moriyama asked Begin to write her an Okinawan-style song. The song's title on the demo tape she received was "Nada Sà Âsà Â," an Okinawan language phrase meaning "large tears are falling" (to compare, the Japanese phrase would be ). When Moriyama found out the meaning of the phrase, it reminded her of the death of her older brother. She kept the title, and based the lyrics she wrote around these feelings.
The lyrics speak of looking through an old photo-book at pictures of somebody who has died. The protagonist of the song is thankful to them for always encouraging them, and for being happy no matter what. They believe they will meet them again one day, and cries as they send thoughts of sadness and love to that person.
All songs arranged by Koji Igarashi.
Begin released a self-cover of the song as the band's 18th single on March 23, 2000. It appears on two 2000 albums by Begin: their Okinawan concept album Begin no Shima Uta (Omato-take O) and a regular studio album, Begin. Two versions backed with sanshin appear on Begin no Shima Uta (Omato-take O) (one in Japanese, one in Okinawan), while the regular studio version appears on Begin (and is backed with acoustic guitar and strings).
Begin's version of the song was used as the theme song of Marvelous Entertainment's PlayStation 2 game in 2002.
The single features two B-sides: and . "Kariyushi no Yoru" also appears on "Begin no Shima Uta (Omato-take O)," and "Hana" is a cover of Okinawan folk rock artist Shoukichi Kina's song
A year after Begin's version, the song was covered by Okinawan singer Rimi Natsukawa as her third single. Her version caused the song to become extremely popular, and is the only version to break the top 10. The song was used in commercials for Japan Post Holdings from 2007 onwards.
Natsukawa first heard the song from the broadcast of the 26th G8 summit held in Okinawa, where Begin had sung the song, and found she could not get the melody out of her head. She requested she cover the song backstage at a Begin concert, to which the band composed the song "Anata no Kaze" for her. She still preferred Nada Sà Âsà Â, however, and released both songs her third single.
Due to the song's popularity, it became the focus of the "Nada Sà Âsà  Project" by Japanese television company TBS. The project consists of two dramas released in 2005, "Hiroshima Showa 20 nen 8 Gatsu Muika" and , and a film "Nada Sà Âsà Â" in 2006. Natsukawa's version was used for "Hiroshima Showa 20 nen 8 Gatsu Muika" and "Nada Sà Âsà Â," while Moriyama's was used for "Nada Sà Âsà  Kono Ai ni Ikite".
Two B-sides feature on the single. The first, , was also written by Begin. The second, , is an acoustic version of her previous single. A special version of the single, limited to 30,000 copies, was released in 2004, collecting the four main versions of the song (standard, Okinawan language version, special Moriyama/Begin/Natsukawa live version, instrumental track).
The Rimi Natsukawa version of the song has been certified as a triple platinum ringtone by the RIAJ, as well as a platinum cellphone download.
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The single is one of the slowest and steadiest selling singles in Japanese history. It began charting in late May 2002, and charted constantly until November 2007. it broke the top 50 in June 2002, and the top 20 in July. From there, it charted between #20-#50 until January 2003. After a performance at the 53rd Kà Âhaku Uta Gassen, the song reached #8. It stayed within the top 40 until June. The single charted steadily until next year's Kà Âhaku Uta Gassen, where Natsukawa, Begin and Ryoko Moriyama performed the song together. The single reached #8 again, and stayed within the top 40 until March. The single still continued to chart slowly, between #50 and #200 before breaking the top 50 once again in 2006, after the release of the Nada Sà Âsà  film.
The song has become a standard for Okinawan folk music, Enka, choir and instrumental musicians. The song has been recorded in cello, erhu, harmonica, harp, guitar, koto, music box, piano and violin versions, amongst others. It has also been covered by Yonashiro Sho ãÂÂThe Leader of the Japanese boys group (JO1)ãÂÂâ¹Pre-Debut cover⺠and also overseas artists, such as Hawaiian Kealiûi Reichel (as "Ka Nohona Pili Kai" in Hawaiian) and New Zealander Hayley Westenra, who sung a classical crossover rendition in English, and Korean singer Memory (Maeng Yu Na 맹ì ëÂÂ), (as Nunmulee Naeyo (ëÂÂ물ì´ ëÂÂìÂÂ) in Korean). Two versions in Chinese exist: one by Taiwanese Huang Pin-Yuan (as "Bai Lu Si ( White Heron)" in Taiwanese), and one by Joi Chua (as "Pei Wo Kan Ri Chu (éªæÂÂçÂÂæÂ¥åº Watching the Sunrise with Me)" in Mandarin). In Cambodia, this song covered in Khmer by Sokun Nisa and it's called "á á·áÂÂáÂÂáÂÂáÂÂáÂÂáÂÂáÂÂáÂÂáÂÂáÂÂáÂÂáÂȇÂÂáÂÂáÂÂáÂÂá½áÂÂáÂÂáÂÂáÂȇÂÂáÂÂáÂÂáÂÂáÂÂáÂÂáÂÂáÂÂ" (a kindness inside my betrayed lover) in 2007 and 2008. It also performed by Saori Kawabata, Narumi Ii, Kenta Tanahara, Taiki Tokuda and Cambodian musicians whose jointed perform this song at night as its original Japanese song during CJCC (Cambodia-Japan Cooperation Center) Kizuna Festival in 2014.