The Melody of Kimi Ga Yo, the national anthem of Japan. With a length of 11 measures and 32 characters it is one of the world's shortest national anthems.

Only God knows how I stumbled upon the United States Navy Band's website and clicked on "Japan". I liked it immediately and nailed it a few hours later although I thought it would go faster. A few days later I searched & found the score of the melody.

Notice the major pentatonic sound; probably because there is no 3rd degree (F) and if there were no 6th degree (B) in the 4th measure it would be a C major pentatonic scale (D Dorian pentatonic mode).

C Major Scale, 1st Position respectively D Dorian Mode, 5th Position.

D Dorian