Sukiyaki (song)

Sukiyaki, known in Japan as Ue o muite arukō (上を向いて歩こう "let's walk while looking up") is a Japanese song that was performed by Japanese crooner Kyu Sakamoto (坂本九), and written by Rokusuke Ei and Hachidai Nakamura. It is best known under its misnomer Sukiyaki outside of Japan.

The song reached the top of the sales charts in the United States in 1963, and was the only Japanese language song to do so.

Several artists have written and/or performed songs based on the melody of "Ue o muite arukou." The most famous of these in America is probably, "Sukiyaki" by 4PM.

The British record label that released the recording was concerned English-speaking audiences might find the original title too difficult to remember/pronounce, so they gave it the new title of "Sukiyaki'" (The American record label kept the British title when they released Kyu Sakamoto's version a few months later). Of course, sukiyaki had absolutely nothing to do with the lyrics or the meaning of the song; the word served the purpose only because it was short, catchy, recognizably Japanese, and more familiar to most English speakers (very few of whom could understand the Japanese lyrics anyway). Newsweek noted that the re-titling was like issuing Moon River in Japan under the title "Beef Stew."

Oddly, as a result of western influence, a lot of Japanese people have gotten to know the song as Sukiyaki instead of Ue o muite arukō.

On March 16th 1999, Japan Post issued a stamp commemorating this song. [1]

Note

Music group Blue Diamonds sung a version of this song, by changing the meaning of the lyrics so that it justifies the "Sukiyaki" title.