This is perhaps the most popular Japanese song in the West (if only in the US…). “Ue wo Muite Arukou” was a big hit in Japan in sixties. It was then introduced to the US under the name of “Sukiyaki”. I don’t know why such a name was given to it. Sukiyaki is a traditional Japanese dish of boiled beef and vegetables in a big bowl, whereas the title of the song means “I shall walk with the face upward”. Maybe, sukiyaki was well-known those days, and the name was used to attract people’s attention.
This is a beautiful song with such a pretty melody. Sakamoto Kyuu, who sings this song, was a famous singer and actor in Japan until his death in the tragic air crash of Japan Airlines Flight 123 in 1985. Sakamoto sings half happily and sadly. In this poem, walking alone, he wants to cry but refrains from it. Why he wants to cry I don’t know. Considering his sad fate may add to the melancholy of the song. But I’d rather think that Sakamoto is now in Heaven and is telling us to look up with this song.
Ue wo Muite Arukou
“I shall walk with the face upward”
I shall walk with the face upward
So that the tears won’t flow down
I remember one spring day
When I spent the whole night all alone
I shall walk with the face upward
Counting those hazy stars in the sky
I remember one summer day
When I spent the whole night all alone
Happiness is upon the clouds
Happiness is beyond the sky
I shall walk with the face upward
So that the tears won’t flow down
I walk and cry on and on
I’ll spend the whole night all alone
I remember one autumn day
When I spent the whole night all alone
Sorrow is just behind the stars
Sorrow is just behind the moon
I shall walk with the face upward
So that the tears won’t flow down
I walk and cry on and on
I shall spend the whole night all alone
I shall spend the whole night all alone
I shall spend the whole night all alone…