japanese song in early 60's

[carolhal]

Japanese song in early to mid 60's Something like sukiaki

[Clanad]

I remember the recording... found this on a web site for unuusal one hit wonders...

Titles of translated works are often chosen by publishers (rather than translators), and a publisher's goal is more likely to be to try to come up with a short, catchy name that will appeal to the target audience rather than to provide a faithful translation of the original title. A perfect example of this phenomenon is the case of the Japanese pop song "Ue O Muite Aruko" (literally "I Look Up When I Walk"), a hit in both the UK and America in 1963 in a cover version by jazzman Kenny Ball and the original version by Japanese singer Kyu Sakamoto, respectively. Both versions were sung in Japanese, but the British record label that released Kenny Ball's recording was concerned English-speaking audiences might find the original title too difficult to remember and pronounce, so they gave it a new title: "Sukiyaki." (The American record label retained the British title when they released Kyu Sakamoto's version a few months later.) Of course, sukiyaki (a sauteed beef dish) had absolutely nothing to do with the lyrics or meaning of the song; nonetheless, the word served the purpose well because it was short, catchy, recognizably Japanese, and familiar to most English speakers (very few of whom could understand the Japanese lyrics anyway) � even if, as Newsweek quipped, the re-titling was akin to issuing "Moon River" in Japan under the title "Beef Stew."

[Ouisch]

Just a footnote to Clanad's answer...Kyu Sakamoto was a passenger on JAL flight 123 and, tragically, died when the 747 crashed into a mountain north of Tokyo.