Sukiyaki: Kyu Sakamoto
Kyu Sakamoto has the distinction of being the only Japanese artist to ever to score a #1 hit internationally. His song Ue o Muite Aruko, known outside Japan as Sukiyaki, went to #1 on the US Billboard charts in 1963.
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keepthecoffeecoming.blog 
September 19, 2010 at 11:44 am
yousendit link:
https://rcpt.yousendit.com/950407021/d67e588d30ec8f4114648599a082f2e7
September 19, 2010 at 12:33 pm
Thanks Kat. This one brings back memories of High School.
September 19, 2010 at 1:41 pm
You’re welcome, Bob. I have similar memories of this song. I can hear it playing in the gym.
September 19, 2010 at 12:48 pm
wish I knew the english translation to this song.Maybe Pat Boone could record it again
September 19, 2010 at 1:42 pm
bubba,
I would have agreed with you but Sara, below, was good enough to post the English translation for both of us.
September 19, 2010 at 1:21 pm
Here it is in English. It wasn’t that big of a hit in Japan, as it was in the US, really. He was quite the crooner in Japan, though….
look up as I walk
So that the tears won’t fall
Remembering those those spring days
But I am all alone tonight
I look up as I walk
Counting the stars with tearful eyes
Remembering those summer days
But I am all alone tonight
Happiness lies beyond the clouds
Happiness lies up above the sky
I look up as I walk
So that the tears won’t fall
Though the tears well up as I walk
For tonight I’m all alone tonight
(whistling)
Remembering those autumn days
But I am all alone tonight
Sadness lies in the shadow of the stars
Sadness lurks in the shadow of the moon
I look up as I walk
So that the tears won’t fall
Though the tears well up as I walk
For tonight I’m all alone
(whistling)
September 19, 2010 at 1:43 pm
Wow, Sara, that is one sad song, but I suspected it would be. I can hear the the regret and sadness even as he sings in Japanese.
Thanks for posting the English lyrics.
September 19, 2010 at 2:36 pm
Thank you for the lyrics. I think that song was a little older than 1963. As I remember, it was recorded in 1959 or 1960.
September 19, 2010 at 11:11 pm
Mario,
I went looking but couldn’t find any other dates listed for the song, but then I got the comment from sblake. It’s below this one.
September 19, 2010 at 6:26 pm
This became a hit in the US when a disc jockey in Washington State heard the British version, and started playing the original by Sakamoto. The title remained “Sukiyaki,” even though it had nothing to do with the song. Marsha Cunningham explains:
“In 1961-2 I was a high school student at The American School In Japan, living in Zushi, Japan. My dad was a pilot for Japan Airlines. While enjoying a Japanese movie staring Kyu Sakamoto, I heard the most unbelievably beautiful song. I purchased the record at a local shop and brought it back to the states the next year when I attended a girl’s boarding school in Sierra Madre, CA. I played it in the dormitory frequently; everyone liked it. One girl took my record home with her on the weekend so her dad could play it on his radio station, and the rest is history!”
Sakamoto was one of 520 people who died in a Japan Airlines crash in 1985. He was 43.
September 19, 2010 at 11:14 pm
sblake,
You answered the question hinted at by Mario who thought this song was older than 1963.
I guess the references I kept finding were only concerning the US release.
You are you so good at filling in everything.
September 20, 2010 at 2:43 am
Every song had a story… So, it was 1961 or 1962. Real good song, with a strong melody. Right in 1963, it was done in French in Quebec, and Canadian singer Lucille Starr did an English cover. Interesting to know there was some hit singles in German (Sailor, by Lolita / Morgen by Ivo Robic), in French (Dominique, Singin’ Nun)and probably some in Italian (Al Di La ?) in the early 1960’s in the US.
September 20, 2010 at 10:32 am
Mario,
I always thought it wonderfully amazing that a song in Japanese became a hit here.