I have been studying Japanese in varying degrees of intensity since 2003. I am also a longtime fan of Japanese music - pop, rock, and all genres in between - and find not only great pleasure but also great practice in translating songs (I highly recommend it for all students of the language!). Here are some of the song translations I've done over the years. These are largely a personal endeavor, but I've put them up here in hopes that others would find use in them. Please read the information section for disclaimers, reminders, notes on my translation style, and information about requests.

information

I pride myself on my accurate translations, but keep in mind when reading that I'm still studying Japanese and am not yet fluent, so please don't take these translations as the word of god. I translate largely as a means of practice and recognize that there are probably some errors here and there. However, while I am still a student, I'm a fairly advanced student, and any errors in my translations will be minor.

There is also always a certain amount of personal interpretation that goes into every translation; I started translating because I was unsatisfied with the interpretations I saw being made in fan translations of Dir en grey songs. I try to be as literal as possible when I translate, but poetics always play a part, and I aim to make my translations as poetic as the original lyrics. I will ocassionally take some liberties in pursuit of poetics, but such liberties will always be noted. All-in-all, I try my best to be as true as possible to the original Japanese lyrics.

Some quick notes on my romanization style:

• は, when used as a particle, is 'wa.' I know that some people romanize it as 'ha,' but I've always found that kind of silly when it's being pronounced with a 'w.'
• を, when used as a particle, is 'wo.' I find it clearer and easier on the eyes to use 'wo' instead of 'o.' The pronunciation of the 'w' sound in を varies among Japanese speakers anyway, so I like to take the safe way out and always romanize it as 'wo.'
• づ is 'zu.' That's how I was taught to romanize づ, and I just prefer it. I tend to stumble over 'tu,' 'du,' or 'dzu' when reading romanizations; they seem clumsy to me.
• う is always 'u,' e.g. きょう is 'kyou.' This is another preference thing. Some people would romanize きょう as 'kyoo' or 'kyō,' but I find always romanizing it as 'u' is more consistent (it makes more sense, then, that じゅう is 'juu') and easier to distinguish from お (as in ほのお, 'honoo').
• じゅ and じょ are 'ju' and 'jo,' not 'jyu' and 'jyo.' They're different from きょ ('kyo'), りょ ('ryo'), びょ ('byo'), etc in terms of pronunciation.
• The -ている formation (and other て-form compounds) are romanized as two words but I try to be consistent with romanizing most other compound verb formations as one (-すぎる, -続ける, -そう, etc). I just personally find it easier to discern meaning this way.
• I know some people who romanize without spaces. These people are living in bizarro world, as far as I'm concerned.

Standard copyright disclaimer applies here. All of these songs and lyrics are copyright their original creators and performers, although the translations and romanizations are mine. If you'd like to post my translations elsewhere feel free, but please link back to sevenhorns, and if you have a chance, drop me a line and let me know where you are posting them.

I do take requests; if you have a song you would like translated, drop me a line and if I have time I'll try my hand at it. All I ask is that you provide kanji for the lyrics (preferably official kanji to avoid mistakes): my vocabulary is not yet strong enough to translate without them. An mp3 or link to somewhere I can listen to the song is also helpful.

Angela Aki

ダリア (Dahlia)
手紙〜拝啓 十五の君へ〜 (Tegami ~Haikei, Juugo no Kimi e~/Letter ~To the Fifteen-year-old You)

Dir en grey

ain't afraid to die
CLEVER SLEAZOID
dead tree
THE FINAL
Machiavellism
MACABRE -揚羽ノ羽ノ夢ハ蛹- (Sanagi no Yume wa Ageha no Hane/The Pupa's Dream of Swallowtail Wings)
Merciless Cult
凌辱の雨 (Ryoujoku no Ame/Rain of Insults)

Kaguyahime (かぐや姫)

なごり雪 (Nagori Yuki/Traces of Snow)
好きだった人 (Suki Datta Hito/The Person I Loved)

LUNA SEA

Forever & Ever
inside you
Providence

Okui Masami (奥井雅美)

時に愛は (Toki ni Ai wa/Sometimes Love Is)

Onitsuka Chihiro (鬼束ちひろ)

Castle imitation
漂流の羽根 (Hyouryuu no Hane/Drifting Feather)
King of Solitude
MAGICAL WORLD
砂の盾 (Suna no Tate/Shield of Sand)

Plastic Tree

春咲センチメンタル (Harusaki Sentimental/Sentimental Spring Blossoms)