Japanese Calligraphy Scroll "Shinano no Kuni" (信濃の國) — Nagano Prefectural Anthem Kakemono, Heisei Era

The Text — "Shinano no Kuni," Nagano's Beloved Anthem
The large title characters at the top of this scroll read 信濃の國 (Shinano no Kuni), "The Land of Shinano" — the historical name for what is now Nagano Prefecture. Below it, the calligrapher has transcribed, in full, the lyrics of the famous song "Shinano no Kuni," composed by Asai Retsu (浅井洌). The song opens with the line also inscribed here:

信濃の國は十州に境つらなる國にして…
Shinano no kuni wa jisshū ni sakai tsuranaru kuni ni shite…
"The Land of Shinano is a country bordered by ten provinces…"

From there, the lyrics unfold into a sweeping geographic and cultural portrait of the region: its sacred temple Zenkō-ji (善光寺), its great peaks including Mount Asama (浅間) and the Yatsugatake range, and its three defining rivers — the Chikuma (千曲川), Kiso (木曾川), and Tenryū (天龍川). The text also honors historical figures tied to Shinano's identity, among them the medieval general Kiso Yoshinaka (木曾義仲) and the Bakumatsu-era scholar and reformer Sakuma Shōzan (佐久間象山).

"Shinano no Kuni" holds a special place in Nagano's cultural life: composed in the Meiji era for use in local schools, it became so deeply loved across the region that it was eventually adopted as Nagano Prefecture's official song, and generations of residents still know it by heart — some say better than the national anthem itself. A scroll transcribing its full lyrics is, in effect, a calligraphic portrait of Nagano's land, history, and civic pride, prized by those with roots in or affection for the region.

Authorship Note on the Lyrics
A small inscription alongside the main text reads 大正戊成春 唱出信濃國 淺井俐 — a note crediting Asai Retsu as the lyricist and marking the season (spring) of the song's composition. We note that the song is generally recorded as having been written in the Meiji era (around 1899) rather than Taishō; the era character in this inscription is difficult to read with full certainty, and we present it here exactly as inscribed rather than correcting it, since we cannot confirm from the scroll alone which era name was intended.

Date and Calligrapher
The main colophon reads 平成五（または六）年秋日 浩雲書 — "brushed on an autumn day of Heisei 5 or 6 [1993 or 1994] by Kōun" (浩雲), the calligrapher's art-name. The reading of the exact year digit is not fully certain from the inscription, so we give both 1993 and 1994 as possibilities. Two red seals beneath the signature confirm the calligrapher's name and title. We have not been able to independently verify further biographical information on the calligrapher Kōun beyond what is inscribed on the scroll.

For Collectors with a Nagano Connection
This piece will resonate strongly with anyone who grew up in, studied in, or has family ties to Nagano Prefecture — "Shinano no Kuni" is often described as a kind of unofficial second anthem for the region, sung at school assemblies and civic events for well over a century. As a hand-brushed calligraphic transcription of the complete lyrics, this scroll turns a piece of communal memory and regional pride into a singular, one-of-a-kind art object.