Biography Sakamoto was born in Kawasaki, Kanagawa Prefecture as the youngest among nine siblings—his nickname Kyu, meaning 'nine', is an alternate reading of the kanji (九) for his given name (Hisashi). His parents, Hiroshi Sakamoto and Iku Sakamoto, both worked at a restaurant. Sakamoto was cousin to the free-jazz saxophonist Kaoru Abe. In high school Sakamoto began to sing and became very popular. In 1958 he joined the Japanese pop-band "The Drifters" as a singer. One of his best known and most beloved songs was "Ashita ga Aru Sa" ("There's Always Tomorrow"). It was covered by the Japanese band Ulfuls in 2001. Sakamoto worked very hard for old, young and handicapped people in Japan. "Ashita Ga Aru Sa" was the leading theme of the 1964 Summer Paralympics in Tokyo. Death On August 12, 1985, Kyu Sakamoto died in the crash of Japan Airlines Flight 123. Before the aircraft crashed, Sakamoto wrote a farewell note to his wife, Yukiko Kashiwagi. Married in 1971, they had two daughters, Hanako and Maiko. Success outside Japan His most popular song, "Ue o muite arukō" ("I look up when I walk") was popular around the world. In 1963, the British record label Pye Records released a cover version of the song by Kenny Ball and his Jazzmen. They were concerned that English-speaking audiences might find the original title too difficult to remember/pronounce, so they gave it the new title of "Sukiyaki'". This title was retained when Capitol Records in the United States, and His Master's ...

• published: 25 Jan 2010
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• author: Bacmaster