Breakdown and Translation

First, I’ll provide line-by-line translations. Then, at the end, you’ll find a smoother translation of the whole song. Several kanji appear multiple times, but I’ll define them only once.

望みの星 (Nozomi no Hoshi: The Wishing Star)

望み (nozomi: wish)
星 (hoshi: star)

歌詞 (kashi: lyrics)     song + words

ヒロ明石、ウェンディ徳永 (Hiro Akashi, Wendy Tokunaga)

明石 (Akashi: family name)     bright + stone
徳永 (Tokunaga: family name)     benevolence + long

曲 (kyoku: music)
学徳永 (Manabu Tokunaga)

学 (Manabu: given name; to learn)

七夕のふたり (Tanabata no futari: the Tanabata lovers)

七夕 (Tanabata: star festival)      7 + night
ふたり (futari: two people)

愛したように (aishita yōni: as (they) loved)

愛する (aisuru: to love)

探しています (sagashite imasu: (I) am seeking)

探す (sagasu: to seek)

見上げた星は (miageta hoshi wa: stars seen)

見上げる (miageru: to look up at, admire)   to look + up

明るいけれど (akarui keredo: bright but)

明るい (akarui: bright)

心から遠すぎる (kokoro kara tōsugiru: (it’s) too far from my heart)

心 (kokoro: heart)
遠 (tō(i): far)
-すぎる (-sugiru: too much)

天の川を飛び越せない (amanogawa o tobikosenai: can’t cross the Milky Way)

天の川 (amanogawa: Milky Way)     sky + river

The Milky Way is “the river of the sky”! We usually read 天 with the on-yomi of TEN. The kun-yomi ama appears in literary contexts.

飛び越す (tobikosu: to leap over)
     to jump + to go over

Here we’re seeing the negative potential form of the verb.

ふたり逢えない (futari aenai: the two can’t meet)

逢う (au: to meet)

The 逢 kanji is non-Jōyō. People use it mostly for romantic meetings, rather than for business meetings.

あなたの愛を待っています (anata no ai o matte imasu: (I’m) waiting for your love)

愛 (ai: love)
待つ (matsu: to wait)

暗い星になっても (kurai hoshi ni natte mo: until even the stars go dark)

暗い (kurai: dark)

[コーラス] (kōrasu: chorus)
望みの星 (nozomi no hoshi: the wishing star)
空に瞬く (sora ni matataku: to twinkle in the sky)

空 (sora: sky)
瞬く (matataku: to twinkle)

願ってもいいですか (negatte mo ii desu ka: May I make a wish?)

願う (negau: to wish, request)

五色の短冊 (goshiki no tanzaku: narrow strips of colored paper)     five + colors + brief + rescript

On Tanabata, people write their wishes on narrow strips of colored paper known as 五色の短冊. Apparently, a “rescript” is an edict, decree, or official announcement, possibly one issued by the Emperor.

私が書いた (watashi ga kaita: my written (wish))

私 (watashi: I)
書く (kaku: to write)

いつまでも側にいたい (itsumademo soba ni itai: I want to be by (your) side forever)

いつまでも (itsumademo: forever)
側 (soba: side)

いつまでも望みの星 (itsumademo nozomi no hoshi: forever the wishing star)

Now for Wendy’s more poetic English translation:

The Wishing Star

I am looking for a love
Like that of the Tanabata lovers
The stars I see up in the sky shine bright
But they are too far away from my heart

The Tanabata lovers cannot cross the Milky Way
It is impossible for them to meet
I will be waiting for your love
Until even the stars go dark

CHORUS:
The wishing star twinkles in the sky
May I make a wish?
What I want
Is to be by your side forever

Is my love destined to be
As elusive as a falling star
A hope dashed in the wink of an eye
Or will fate smile at me
Turn my wish into reality
As bright as the stars in the sky

CHORUS
Forever the wishing star

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