Kimigayo
His Majesty's Reign
Kimigayo wa
May your reign
Chiyo ni yachiyo ni
Continue for a thousand, eight thousand generations
Sazare ishi no
Until the pebbles
Iwao to narite
Grow into boulders
Koke no musu made
Lush with moss
君が代は
千代に八千代に
さざれ（細）石の
いわお（巌）となりて
こけ（苔）の生すまで（迄
Poetic English translation
Thousands of years of happy reign be thine;
Rule on, my lord (Akihito), until what are pebbles now
By ages united to mighty rocks shall grow
Whose venerable sides the moss doth line.
