Stumbled across this MTV on youtube and decided to share with everyone regarding this song. This song is by Kyu Sakamoto. This singer was killed on 12 August 1985, when JAL Flight 123, a 747 bound from Haneda Airport in Tokyo to Osaka, lost pieces of its tail sections and spiraled downward nightmarishly for 30 minutes (long enough for some passengers to scribble shaky farewells to their families). The plane crashed and burned on a thickly wooded mountain about 60 miles northwest of Tokyo, killing 520 and injuring four, in the worst single airplane disaster in aviation history.
The lyrics is written by lyrics by Rokusuke Ei, according to wikipedia, he wrote the lyrics of this song after returning from a coming
back from a protest against the Treaty of Mutual Cooperation and Security between the United States and Japan . He was feeling sad and dejected of the outcome.
Many other netizens also said that he may have this touching evocation of loneliness after his heart was broken by the actress Meiko Nakamura.
But I guess both incidents may have a part to play in the inspiration of this song.
I found a very nice poetic translation of this, and i have posted them here for people who are curious what he is singing.
Ue o muite arukoo I look up when I walk
Namida ga kobore nai yoo ni So the tears won’t fall
Omoidasu haru no hi Remembering those happy spring days
Hitoribotchi no yoru But tonight I’m all alone
Ue o muite arukoo I look up when I walk
Nijinda hoshi o kazoete Counting the stars with tearful eyes
Omoidasu natsu no hi Remembering those happy summer days
Hitoribotchi no yoru But tonight I’m all alone
Shiawase wa kumo no ue ni Happiness lies beyond the clouds
Shiawase wa sora no ue ni Happiness lies above the sky
Ue o muite arukoo I look up when I walk
Namida ga kobore nai yoo ni So the tears won’t fall
Nakinagara aruku Though my heart is filled with sorrow
* Hitoribotchi no yoru For tonight I’m all alone
(whistling) (whistling)
Omoidasu aki no hi Remembering those happy autumn days
Hitoribotchi no yoru But tonight I’m all alone
Kanashimi wa hoshi no kage ni Sadness hides in the shadow of the stars
Kanashimi wa tsuki no kage ni Sadness lurks in the shadow of the moon
Ue o muite arukoo I look up when I walk
Namida ga kobore nai yoo ni So the tears won’t fall
Nakinagara aruku Though my heart is filled with sorrow
* Hitoribotchi no yoru For tonight I’m all alone
(whistling) (whistling)
July 8, 2009 at 2:13 pm
This is a wonderful post.. Thank you so much…
Ron
July 9, 2009 at 12:57 pm
You are welcome Ron, feel free to read the other posts as well
September 1, 2010 at 2:22 pm
I learned to sing this infectiously wonderful song as a kid… Then, while in college in Tokyo at Waseda I surprised my Japanese host family with my rendition of it. They loved my entheusiasm, if not my voice. Sadly Kyu died in a JAL crash a couple of decades ago. This is the first time I’ve seen the lyrics in English and greatly appreciate it.
Arigato!
September 2, 2010 at 2:12 am
Hi Stephen
I am very glad to see your comments, and that the song gave you so much memories… I will love to hear you sing that too.. I got the translation off another website, as personally i do not know japanese too..
Feel free to visit my blog anytime
May 14, 2011 at 10:50 pm
I remember this song from when I was a little girl. Thank you so very much… it is very beautiful.
May 17, 2011 at 9:49 am
Hi there.. I am glad you like the song. in fact i like it just as much as you.
Its interesting when i read the translation, its amazing how he sang a sad lyrics with a upbeat tune
May 24, 2011 at 6:24 am
Thanks for the translation!
However, I do have one comment about it –
“Nakinagara aruku” does not mean “Though my heart is filled with sorrow”. Nagara is a form of grammar in Japanese which means that two actions are done at the same time, when the second sentence (In this case, the verb “aruku”) is the main one. so this sentence means – Walking while crying. There is no indication of cause and effect between this sentence and the next, so the last sentence means – A lonley night/ night of loneliness.
Sorry for being pester about this ^_^
Tori.
June 22, 2011 at 2:25 am
Good Day Tori
Actually I do not know Japanese. The Above Translation is stumbled by me sometime ago. Due to my lack of expertise in the language. I will only post your comment for the other readers to read.
Thank you very much for your comment.
September 1, 2011 at 5:59 am
I love this song so much. I have listened to it since I was a little child and am so glad to finally know what the English translation of the lyrics are.
September 27, 2011 at 9:53 pm
Hi Ledia,
I am so glad to see you on my site.. I like this song very much too. These translations are taken from some place when I was a boy.. i kept the English translation ever since.
Hope to see more of your comments one day.
September 11, 2011 at 3:02 pm
My Mother used to sing this to us many years ago. I recently saw the you-tube post of the ‘Sing Out from Japan’ March 2011, where they sang this tune. (This triggered many happy thoughts of our mom.) My friend found your lyrics for me as I never knew what this was about. Thank you so much.
Poetry/lyrics is a funny thing. It can be ‘translated’ in different ways. The other blog mentioned it was an upbeat tune to a sad song…perhaps.
As I watched of the Sing Out, while I felt the sadness, I also thought this song to be one of inner strength. Despite the sorrow, fighting the tears, the happiness is still out there even if it seems in the clouds. Maybe that’s why the ‘whistling’ works. Maybe that’s why the upbeat tune. Gentle, soothing, giving strength.’
Thank you for sharing with us.
September 27, 2011 at 9:58 pm
Hi Nancy
I am so glad that the song brings back many happy memories.
While I was reading your comment, I agree that “A upbeat tune” to a sad song is a very apt description. When I was a kid and I heard this song, I used to think that it must be talking about happy things. Little did I know he is talking about a heart break when I read the english translation.
Hope to see more comments from you soon. Take care
September 13, 2011 at 6:58 pm
I was 12 years old when I first heard this song and still consider it the most beautiful of my lifetime. I have wanted to perform it for years, but every English version either strays from the translation or suffers metrically from holding too literally. This poetic translation has allowed me to solve the meter issue, and I will be posting the result on YouTube this weekend! I hope I can remotely do it justice.
September 27, 2011 at 10:01 pm
Hi Martin..
Thank you for your comment, I will really hope to see your post on the youtube. Do give me a link to it will you? I will love to hear you perform it.
September 17, 2011 at 8:53 am
Hey..subarashii desu ne.. I heard this song years before when I was learning Japanese in India..
September 27, 2011 at 10:09 pm
Hi Sukumar..
You are welcome, visit me often.. hope to see more comments
September 21, 2011 at 5:36 am
thank you(konichiwa) for the lyrics. ive listened to this song since it was new and never knew what kyu was singing about. now that i know its an even better song
September 27, 2011 at 10:16 pm
Hi Ray
You are welcome, I am just as glad to see your comment, I hope to hear from you soon
October 17, 2011 at 9:20 am
I had a wonderful opportunity this past week. 1963 was the first year I began regularly listening to music on the radio in the USA. I was 11 that summer, turning 12 in October. It coincided with my family moving to a new town, and “Sukiyaki” was one of the first songs I became attached to in that way that only music allows. There are a lot of popular singles from that summer I still love.
A couple of months ago, the New York Film Festival program was announced, with one of the retrospectives being a batch of films made at Nikkatsu Studio. The studio is celebrating its centennial and they were screening 37 films made between 1921 and 2010. Several years ago, in a similar retrospective there, I was able to immerse myself in the films of Yasuhiro Ozu and enjoyed that tremendously, so I was curious to see what sorts of films would be included here. I was reading the descriptions and came across one that had me thinking, “I wonder if that’s the sort of film I might hear ‘Sukiyaki’ in?” Two blurbs later I came across “I Look Up When I Walk,” indicating that the song provides the musical theme for the entire film. I went to see it last Wednesday and while the film does not rank with the great film to come from Japan, I nevertheless enjoyed it immensely.
I wasn’t sure if I would hear the entire song during the film, or just pieces, or possibly hear it at the beginning and not again, but neither of those was the case. The song does appear in full in the film — which stars Kyu Sakamoto, in a pretty appealing role within a sort of ensemble cast — and because it was subtitled, the song lyrics appeared … and were substantially, if not exactly (I couldn’t say for sure) what is included above.
I have been playing some other versions on YouTube just now and have heard some freer translations, which I don’t have a problem with, but that I feel are not structured in the same way as the translation above, which has a certain progression to it that feels important to me.
I don’t know if this film would be available on NetFlix, but if you’re interested, you could certainly have a look.
Here is how the NYFF described the film:
Masuda’s tough take on juvenile street gangs created an international pop hit with the movie’s title song, sung by lead actor and heart throb Kyu Sakamoto and released as “Sukiyaki” in America (where it would be the only Japanese song ever to chart at number one). The entertaining pairing of the fresh-faced singer with a gang story was part of a five-film-a-year tear by consummate Nikkatsu professional Toshio Masuda, the studio’s indefatigable action maven.
Series: NYFF Velvet Bullets and Steel Kisses: Celebrating the Nikkatsu Centennial
Country: Japan | Japanese with English subtitles | Format: 35mm | Running time: 91m
November 27, 2011 at 11:30 pm
Hi Robert
Thank you for sharing with me regarding the fact that this song was featured in the film.. so far I know the inspiration of the song is actually a heart break.. but again.. i think its a interesting comment and thank you for commenting.
January 10, 2012 at 4:22 am
I was a child when this song was released in 1961, and have always wondered about the lyrics. The beautiful melody has always been one of my favorites. Now, at last, I know the words hold comparable beauty. Thank you.
January 20, 2012 at 2:00 pm
I am glad you like the song Rosmary, and I am glad to have kept that lyrics translation with me.
HOpe to hear more from you in the future.
March 8, 2012 at 7:43 am
It’s funny, the song is about trying to be brave and not sad but it always makes me cry! I love it.
March 8, 2012 at 9:24 am
hi kelly..
glad you like the song.. but sometimes i feel being brave and not sad is a good way to deal with hurt. Dont you think so?
Hope to hear more from you in the future.
March 8, 2012 at 8:29 am
Lisbeth, schönheits chirurg…
[...]Lyrics of “Ue O Muite Aruko” or “I look up when I walk” AKA Sukiyaki « The Hesitant Prize Fighter[...]…
June 9, 2012 at 11:16 pm
great song. Just discovered this song last week and for a typical 20 years old like me I must say that old song are kick ass.
July 30, 2012 at 10:17 pm
Hi Ftw
Sometimes as i look at the lyrics, it seems to me the singers of oldies happen to put more effort and more emotions when writing them.. thats why sometimes I have the urge to post them as well
Hope to see more of your comments
Thank you
January 21, 2013 at 2:38 pm
Written by a Japanese protester returning, dejected, from the failure of a protest against the Treaty of Mutual Cooperation and Security between the United States and Japan, the song’s lyrics were purposely made as though he might be sad about anything, such as a love affair. Similarly the English title given to the song, Sukiyaki, has nothing whatever to do with the essence or substance of the song.
January 22, 2013 at 4:05 pm
Good Day Susan
Thank you for your update, because of your comments, I went on to do some simple net research for data. Apparently this is what I found out.
1. The Lyrics Writer did have a girlfriend known as Meiko Nakamura, there are very little information of her, as there are at least more than 1 Meiko Nakamura in history. But here is here IMDB record http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0620193/bio
2. The song existed sometime after the Treaty was signed between US and Japan.
Perhaps both incidents must have some impact to Rokusuke Ei when he penned the Lyrics
thank you for your input Susan
March 25, 2013 at 4:37 am
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