Singing “Sukiyaki” in difficult times – By GEORGE BRAINE
All round the world, at the height of covid, people paid tribute to frontline medical workers in various ways. In Japan, where I live, thousands across generations – from schoolchildren to grandparents – sang a 60-year old song, “Ue O Muite Aruko” (“I look up as I walk”). Known to the rest of the world as “Sukiyaki”, the song became an instant hit in 1961 and went onto become one of the world’s best-selling singles of all time.
This song has a special resonance for me.
I first heard “Sukiyaki” on Radio Ceylon being sung by The Blue Diamonds, two brothers of Indonesian/Dutch origin. The lyrics went
“The charms of Sukiyaki
The arms of Sukiyaki
Are all I long for since I left Nagasaki
Why did I roam
Far away from home
I hope that she will wait for me …”
Sounds like a love song for a girl named Sukiyaki from the Japanese city of Nagasaki. More than the lyrics, what made the song popular was its catchy tune and the lovely whistling that came in between. The Blue Diamonds toured Ceylon in the mid-1960s and played in Kandy, when I was schooling there. A classmate attended the concert and brought a tape recording of the show to school.
When I became familiar with Japanese cuisine and a popular dish named Sukiyaki (made with sliced beef, tofu, noodles and vegetables), I was puzzled. How could a Japanese girl be named for a dish?
Kyu Sakamoto and the Original Version
Sakamoto was only 20 years old when he recorded “Ue O Muite Aruko”. Rokusuke Ei wrote the lyrics while walking home from another failed demonstration against the US military presence in Japan, but the lyrics were rendered generic so that they might refer to lost love, sadness, and isolation. Hachidai Nakamura composed the unforgettable melody. The translation goes:
“I look up as I walk
So that the tears won’t fall
Remembering 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 …”
When the song was released in the USA in 1963, it was renamed “Sukiyaki” because the term was “short, catchy, recognizably Japanese, and more familiar to English speakers”. That year, it topped the US Billboard charts, despite being sung in Japanese, a language very few Americans understand. It was #1 in Australia, Canada, and Norway, too. Sakamoto’s youthful, endearing voice, the upbeat melody, and the whistling, moved the world to fall in love with the song.
According to Wikipedia, the song has also been recorded in Spanish, Dutch, Portuguese, Danish, Swedish, German, Czech, Cantonese, Finnish, and Norwegian, among others. Rap and reggae versions are also available. The Ventures recorded a gentle instrumental, and so did Chet Atkins, Jim Reeves’ guitarist.
So, when the world was locked down in fear, and many were isolated, we longed for more gentle times and turned to “Ue O Muite Aruko”. Our spirits were lifted and our hearts became lighter.
This version on YouTube has 17 million hits, and 10,000+ comments. Many recall the first time they heard the song and fell in love with it, even without understanding the lyrics.
Sadly, Sakamoto died in the infamous Japan Airlines crash in 1985, along with 519 others on board.
GEORGE BRAINE
