Translation struggles - Kuroshio Current being mentioned in a patriotic song

Question

I'm trying to make sense of an old Japanese patriotic song 五・一五事件 昭和維新行進曲 陸軍の歌, and there's a line that contains a reference to the Kuroshio Current. The event this song was written about (the so-called May 15th Incident) has zero connections to the Kuroshio Current, and I think there must be some cultural reference that I'm not aware of. It's in the last 2 lines of the second verse:

醒ませ{さませ}悪夢{あくむ}を 開け{ひらけ}眼{め}を (Wake up from a nightmare, open your eyes)
寄せる{よせる}黒潮{くろしお} 何{なん}と見る{みる} (I have no idea what to make of this)

Is it indeed a cultural reference, or does the last line speak about the Kuroshio Current as a physical object (and if so, how it is relevant to the May 15th Incident)?

Answer 1

Probably due to Kuroshio's strong current, they improve transportation of heat and things. The lyricist wanted to encourage troops mentioning 黒潮. My interpretation is the following :

寄せる黒潮 何と見る The Kuroshio is forthcoming, how do you feel about that?(Why don't you get stoked!?)

It sounds like a typical phrase of rock concert like Metallica.

Possibly 陸軍{りくぐん} : Ground Force also did long-distance-swimming for their training a lot. So, I guess the cultural reference and its physics are related.

Answer 2

黒潮 is a familiar term to Japanese people (elementary school students learn it at school), and there was a warship called 黒潮 and a kisha club called 黒潮会. It obviously has an image of "(warm,) fast and strong", but beyond this, I don't think there is an episode or implication widely shared among Japanese people.

潮【うしお】 is a word sometimes used in poetry to describe emotional "surge". There is a word 血潮, which is usually a metaphor for strong emotion. Therefore 黒潮 may also be a metaphor for strong passion, but this is only my speculation.

(BTW, 黒潮会 is loosely related to 五・一五, and I feel 黒潮 in 五・一五音頭 might be a reference to 黒潮会. But 黒潮 in 昭和維新行進曲 is clearly unrelated to this club.)