Sukiyaki with Lyrics ♥ Kyu Sakamoto (Ue O Muite Aruko)

Kyu Sakamoto (Hisashi Oshima) was born on November 10, 1941 in Kawasaki City (Kanagawa Prefecture), Japan.
Ue o Muite Aruko (I Look Up When I Walk) was released in Japan in 1961.
The music was composed by Hachidai Nakamura.
The lyrics written by Rokusuke Ei, is said to have written this after his heart was broken by the actress, Meiko Nakamura.
It was released in the United States in 1963 and became an International hit. To date, this is the only song that has made it to #1 in the U.S. by a Japanese Singer.
Louis Benjamin, the head of the UK's Pye Records, heard the song while visiting Japan. He brought a copy home and had Kenny Ball & the Jazzmen do a version of it, which he re-titled "Sukiyaki" after his favorite Japanese dish, and had it go into the top ten.
Shortly thereafter, DJ Richard Osbourne of the radio station KORD in Pasco of Washington State started playing the original version by Kyu Sakamoto, using the "Sukiyaki" title. There were frequent requests for the song and Capitol picked up the record. The song went to #1 in Billboard for three weeks and sold over a million copies in the United States.
Kyu Sakamoto was killed on 12 August 1985 at the age of 43 when JAL Flight 123, a 747 was bound from Haneda Airport in Tokyo to Osaka. The bulkhead of the plane failed due to a tail strike incident seven years prior. The Pilots attempted to make an Emergency landing but the airplane crashed into a mountain, 60 miles northwest of Tokyo, killing 520 and injuring four. While the plane spiraled downwards for approximately 30 minutes, Kyu was able to write a farewell note on a napkin for his wife.
He was married to Yukiko Kashiwagi in 1971 and they had two daughters, Hanako and Maiko.

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(Originally uploaded January 31, 2010, 94,167 views, 473 likes, 0 dislikes, 93 comments.)