Do you know Sakamoto Kyu? He is very famous in America. He is a singer who sang Ue wo Muite Arukou. It was a number one hit there.

    Today, I’m going to tell why the American call Ue wo Muite Arukou “Sukiyaki”.

    Many Japanese singers or groups want to work in the United States if they have a chance. Even for famous singers of groups in Japan, it is difficult to succeed there. And to success in America, they need a high ability.

    But the number one hit of the singer Sakamoto Kyu was great because he showed his ability. Two years later, his Ue wo Muite Arukou was a hit in Japan, and it reached the top of the charts in the US even in its original Japanese version; only the title was changed to “Sukiyaki”.

    The title “Sukiyaki” was given to the song when an instrumental version was recorded by an English Jazz player, Kenny Ball. English disk jockeys could not read the long Japanese name, so one of the few Japanese words that they knew was chosen. It was “Sukiyaki”. At that time, the words was the most popular Japanese word in America

    But I have a question. Do the American know really the meaning of Ue wo Muite Arukou? I don’t know.