Sorry but I’m not writing about the posh Japanese dish this time. Do you know the another famous one as a song for non-Japanese people? Actually, Sukiyaki is also a song title translated from a golden oldie ‘Ueomuitearuko’ for English people who could easily remember that at the age.
Sukiyaki reached the No. 1 on the Billboard charts
The Japanese word ‘Sukiyaki’ rapidly spread over the world after the hilarious song had released in the US and UK. Nobody could expect that Sukiyaki reached the No. 1 on the Billboard charts on June 15, 1963, and kept the honor for three weeks.
The Japanese male singer, Kyu Sakamoto who passed away in 1985 by a plane crash, was widely active as not only a singer but also actor and TV personality. He could be one of the most popular celebrities to represent Showa era, and still lives in hearts of many Japanese. Anyway, let’s watch the music video with the English translation and lyrics.
Why Sukiyaki is good material for learning Japanese
How was the Japanese classic song? I often recommend Sukiyaki to Japanese learners when they ask me some good materials in music, because of the simple words and sentence in just three minutes. Besides, the whole melody is quite easy to sing and remember for anybody. Other than Sukiyaki, I’d like you to find out proper songs for learning as Japanese classic ones.
Lastly, I also introduce another Sukiyaki, translated in English to ‘Look at the sky’ by Yoko Ono for Olly Murs who is an English singer-songwriter known as runner-up of the X Factor. I think this translation is more natural for the original meaning, and am quite sure that Yoko Ono would like to tell non-Japanese people what Kyu Sakamoto really sings.
