<p>The title is 「夢と知りせば」 <em>Yume to shiriseba</em>, which one might translate as "Had I known it was a dream".</p>

<p>To appreciate the significance of this title, one should know that this is part of a <em>tanka</em> by <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ono_no_Komachi" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Ono no Komachi</a>, a Heian-era poet. In Japanese, the text is:</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>思ひつつ<br>
  寝ればや人の<br>
  見えつらむ<br>
  <strong>夢と知りせば</strong><br>
  覚めざらましを</p>
</blockquote>

<p>There are many scholarly translations of this poem; here is <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=R7McAwAAQBAJ&amp;pg=PT85&amp;lpg=PT85&amp;dq=%22had%20I%20known%20it%20was%20a%20dream%22&amp;source=bl&amp;ots=6q0VmMP942&amp;sig=j00uWJ5vmDbohhNe2Sy0gUoVL1A&amp;hl=en&amp;sa=X&amp;ved=0ahUKEwikgOGiyLTTAhWM3YMKHZRiCgUQ6AEILDAC#v=onepage&amp;q=%22had%20I%20known%20it%20was%20a%20dream%22&amp;f=false" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Donald Keene's version</a>:</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>Thinking about him<br>
  I slept, only to have him<br>
  Appear before me―<br>
  <strong>Had I known it was a dream</strong><br>
  I should never have wakened.</p>
</blockquote>

<p>Shinkai mentions this poem as an inspiration in <a href="http://www.kiminona.com/interview/01shinkai.html" rel="nofollow noreferrer">this interview</a>:</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>その未来の物語を小野小町の和歌『思ひつつ寝ればや人の見えつらむ　夢と知りせば覚めざらましを』（訳：あの人のことを思いながら眠りについたから夢に出てきたのであろうか。夢と知っていたなら目を覚まさなかったものを）を引っ掛かりとして、アニメーションのフィールドの中で描く事が出来ると思いました。</p>
</blockquote>

<hr>

<p>As a side note, the text beneath the working title reads ―男女とりかえばや物語 - roughly, "boy and girl <em>Torikaebaya Monogatari</em>". The <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Torikaebaya_Monogatari" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><em>Torikaebaya Monogatari</em></a> ("The Changelings") is another Heian-era work, about a boy and girl who each behave as members of the opposite gender. That's basically what <em>Kimi no Na wa</em> is, after all, except with full-on body-swapping.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-04-21T21:38:58.787Z
Is there a manga for Kimi no Na wa ? I searched online and saw a few images which looked as if they were pages from a manga, but didn't find a place to read the manga itself. Is it even there ?
devb
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-04-21T22:20:22.913Z
@Nightshade Yes, though I don't believe [the English version](https://www.amazon.com/your-name-Vol-manga/dp/0316558559/) is out yet.
senshin
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-04-21T03:12:58.727Z
2017-08-01T19:05:13.030Z
2017-08-01T19:05:13.030Z
senshin
<p>Here is some early concept art for <em>Kimi no Na wa</em>.</p>

<p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/YUPMS.jpg" rel="noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/YUPMS.jpg" alt="concept art"></a></p>

<p>The working title is given in the top-left corner of this image. What was the title?</p>

<p>(This question has been gleefully lifted <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/KimiNoNaWa/comments/66e1fp/original_concept_art_of_your_name_by_makoto/dghxgkf/" rel="noreferrer">from reddit</a>.)</p>

<your-name>
What was the working title of Kimi no Na wa?
# What was the working title of Kimi no Na wa?
Posted by: username_0 on 2017-04-21
Here is some early concept art for *Kimi no Na wa*.

[![concept art](https://i.sstatic.net/YUPMS.jpg)](https://i.sstatic.net/YUPMS.jpg)

The working title is given in the top-left corner of this image. What was the title?

(This question has been gleefully lifted [from reddit](https://www.reddit.com/r/KimiNoNaWa/comments/66e1fp/original_concept_art_of_your_name_by_makoto/dghxgkf/).)
**Tags:** your-name
---
## 1 answers
### Answer by username_0 on 2017-04-21. Score: 14
The title is 「夢と知りせば」 *Yume to shiriseba*, which one might translate as "Had I known it was a dream".

To appreciate the significance of this title, one should know that this is part of a *tanka* by [Ono no Komachi](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ono_no_Komachi), a Heian-era poet. In Japanese, the text is:

> 思ひつつ  
> 寝ればや人の  
> 見えつらむ  
> **夢と知りせば**  
> 覚めざらましを

There are many scholarly translations of this poem; here is [Donald Keene's version](https://books.google.com/books?id=R7McAwAAQBAJ&pg=PT85&lpg=PT85&dq=%22had%20I%20known%20it%20was%20a%20dream%22&source=bl&ots=6q0VmMP942&sig=j00uWJ5vmDbohhNe2Sy0gUoVL1A&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwikgOGiyLTTAhWM3YMKHZRiCgUQ6AEILDAC#v=onepage&q=%22had%20I%20known%20it%20was%20a%20dream%22&f=false):

> Thinking about him  
> I slept, only to have him  
> Appear before me―  
> **Had I known it was a dream**  
> I should never have wakened.

Shinkai mentions this poem as an inspiration in [this interview](http://www.kiminona.com/interview/01shinkai.html):

> その未来の物語を小野小町の和歌『思ひつつ寝ればや人の見えつらむ　夢と知りせば覚めざらましを』（訳：あの人のことを思いながら眠りについたから夢に出てきたのであろうか。夢と知っていたなら目を覚まさなかったものを）を引っ掛かりとして、アニメーションのフィールドの中で描く事が出来ると思いました。

---

As a side note, the text beneath the working title reads ―男女とりかえばや物語 - roughly, "boy and girl *Torikaebaya Monogatari*". The [*Torikaebaya Monogatari*](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Torikaebaya_Monogatari) ("The Changelings") is another Heian-era work, about a boy and girl who each behave as members of the opposite gender. That's basically what *Kimi no Na wa* is, after all, except with full-on body-swapping.
> **Comments:**
> **username_1** (2017-04-21): Is there a manga for Kimi no Na wa ? I searched online and saw a few images which looked as if they were pages from a manga, but didn't find a place to read the manga itself. Is it even there ?  
> **username_0** (2017-04-21): @Nightshade Yes, though I don't believe [the English version](https://www.amazon.com/your-name-Vol-manga/dp/0316558559/) is out yet.  
---
