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I'm trying to make sense of an old Japanese patriotic song [五・一五事件 昭和維新行進曲
陸軍の歌](http://dl.ndl.go.jp/info:ndljp/pid/1137450/7), and there's a line that
contains a reference to the Kuroshio Current. The event this song was written
about (the so-called [May 15th
Incident](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/May_15_Incident)) has zero connections
to the Kuroshio Current, and I think there must be some cultural reference
that I'm not aware of. It's in the last 2 lines of the second verse:

> 醒ませ{さませ}悪夢{あくむ}を 開け{ひらけ}眼{め}を (Wake up from a nightmare, open your eyes)  
>  **寄せる{よせる}黒潮{くろしお} 何{なん}と見る{みる}** (I have no idea what to make of this)

Is it indeed a cultural reference, or does the last line speak about the
Kuroshio Current as a physical object (and if so, how it is relevant to the
May 15th Incident)?
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translation history culture song-lyrics poetry
Translation struggles - Kuroshio Current being mentioned in a patriotic song
Probably due to Kuroshio's [strong
current](https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E9%BB%92%E6%BD%AE), they improve
[transportation of heat and things](https://confit.atlas.jp/guide/event-
img/jpgu2018/AOS15-09/public/pdf?type=in&lang=ja). The lyricist wanted to
encourage troops mentioning 黒潮. My interpretation is the following :

> 寄せる黒潮 何と見る The Kuroshio is forthcoming, how do you feel about that?(Why
> don't you get stoked!?)

It sounds like a typical phrase of rock concert like Metallica.

Possibly 陸軍{りくぐん} : Ground Force also did [long-distance-
swimming](https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E9%81%A0%E6%B3%B3) for their training
a lot. So, I guess the cultural reference and its physics are related.
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黒潮 is a familiar term to Japanese people (elementary school students learn it
at school), and there was a warship called
[黒潮](https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E9%BB%92%E6%BD%AE_\(%E9%A7%86%E9%80%90%E8%89%A6\))
and a kisha club called
[黒潮会](https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E9%BB%92%E6%BD%AE%E4%BC%9A). It obviously
has an image of "(warm,) fast and strong", but beyond this, I don't think
there is an episode or implication widely shared among Japanese people.

潮【うしお】 is a word sometimes used in poetry to describe emotional "surge". There
is a word 血潮, which is usually a metaphor for strong emotion. Therefore 黒潮 may
also be a metaphor for strong passion, but this is only my speculation.

(BTW, 黒潮会 is loosely related to 五・一五, and I feel 黒潮 in
[五・一五音頭](https://blog.goo.ne.jp/1971913/e/d2451e3587e85b1e511152d3c6a7e976)
might be a reference to 黒潮会. But 黒潮 in 昭和維新行進曲 is clearly unrelated to this
club.)
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