Talk:Sukiyaki (song)

Untitled
Infoboxes were requested for the A Taste of Honey and 4 P.M. versions of "Sukiyaki" at WikiProject_Missing_encyclopedic_articles/List_of_notable_songs/12.

Introduction Rewrite?
Minor quibble but wouldn't the starting sentence ""Sukiyaki", known in Japan as "Ue o muite arukō"" be more appropriate as ""Ue o muite arukō", known outside of Japan as "Sukiyaki""?

"Sadly and prematurely, 43-year-old Kyu Sakamoto 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."

No need for that in this article - see Japan Airlines Flight 123. Also, cut the "sadly and prematurely" stuff, please. WhisperToMe 22:04, 14 Dec 2004 (UTC)

This past week, I talked to some teenagers from Hiroshima, Japan. When I asked them about "Ue o muite arukou," they had no clue what I was talking about. When I played the song for them on my laptop, they jumped up and said, "Ah! Sukiyaki!" Apparently, many Japanese people, or at least those of the younger generation, know this song as "Sukiyaki," not "Ue o muite arukou." Aoi 20:46, 3 Apr 2005 (UTC)

Would it be possible to include the lyrics, or are there copyright issues preventing this? terribleCabbage 02:58, 23 Jan 2006 (UTC)

Not to mention that this is the English Wikipedia. The page for "Japan" isn't called "Nihon"; the name of this song is given first as it is known in English speaking parts of the world. 137.229.183.144 (talk) 23:20, 15 February 2011 (UTC)

Covers and variations
The listing of recorded versions needs some work, notably "Baron" and "Bambi" point to articles that have nothing whatsoever to do with this, and their respective disambiguation pages are of little or no help. ;Bear 03:31, September 1, 2005 (UTC)
 * I removed the wikilinks for bands without articles, I couldn't find anything for Bamib or Baron as a band on their respective disambiguation pages either. I think it looks a lot cleaner now. JeroenHoek 08:02, 1 September 2005 (UTC)

Pizzicatto Five
I heard a song called Sukiyaki by the Pizzicatto Five (appearing in the cover list now) once, but it didn't seem a cover or variation of this song at all. Can anyone confirm if they did do a cover at one point? JeroenHoek 06:39, 5 September 2005 (UTC)

I have a version that sounds like an acoustic guitar live version that is credited to them. However the quality of the recording sounds like it was done in someone's basement so it might be a mislabelling. So I guess they should be removed from the list until it can be verified.

They also have another (more famous song) that is called Sukiyaki Song which isn't a cover but more of a tribute.(Nickcin2000 02:30, 7 September 2005 (UTC))

"Let's walk while looking up"?!?
Is "let's walk while looking up" really the best translation, in context, of ue o muite arukō? It was always my impression that this song was about one person — the singer — holding his head up while walking, in order to hide the fact that he was crying. Wouldn't something like "I'm looking up as I walk" be better? Or perhaps even "I'm walking with my head held high (so my tears won't fall)"? — Richwales 05:44, 4 July 2006 (UTC)

"Arukou" is the "consultive" form of the verb "aruku" (to walk), which means it's generally used to make "Let's ..." type suggestions. Idiomatically, it's often used by a person talking to him or herself, basically having the nuance of "I should do X..." or "I'll try X..." It's certainly analogous to an English speaker saying, "Let's do this," when talking to themselves. The song is definitely about one person talking to themselves, but the current translations trade a somewhat confusing nuance for no nuance at all. I suggest "I'll try looking up as I walk", and will edit accordingly.
 * I'll look up as I walk? "Shall" is a bit heavy handed. --Timtak (talk) 03:10, 25 September 2008 (UTC)

I'm changing the translation to "shall" for the following reasons:
 * 歩こう (arukō) is in the volitional form, expressing intention more accurately translated to "shall" than "will."
 * Google searches give the following numbers of results:
 * "shall walk looking up" — 38,300
 * "will walk looking up" — 17,900
 * "shall walk looking up" sakamoto — 22,500
 * "will walk looking up" sakamoto — 11,300
 * So "shall" is more often used anyway.

Ulmanor (talk) 00:54, 21 May 2013 (UTC)

In TV/Movies
Can a list of used in [blank] be compiled? I can contribute Northern Exposure, Season 1, Episode 3 (played as road is paved with astroturf to make golf course for visiting Japanese)

Fair use rationale for Image:S218529.jpg
Image:S218529.jpg is being used on this article. I notice the image page specifies that the image is being used under fair use but there is no explanation or rationale as to why its use in this Wikipedia article constitutes fair use. In addition to the boilerplate fair use template, you must also write out on the image description page a specific explanation or rationale for why using this image in each article is consistent with fair use.

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BetacommandBot (talk) 19:05, 29 November 2007 (UTC)

Seeking info
The following was added to the article by User:96.229.205.245, with edit summary, "I added the story of how I brought this record to America. There is another story, but I think that it's not true."
 * In 1961, when I was 16, I lived in Japan. A friend and I, another American girl, attended Japanese movies in our little town of Zushi; it was about the only thing we could find to do on Saturdays. Ue O Muite Auruko was the theme song to a movie we saw staring Kuy Sakamoto. We went straight to the music store after the movie looking for the record. They didn't have it so we asked a Japanese friend if she could find it for us, and she delivered it to us shortly.


 * The following year we both returned to the states and attended a girl's school in Sierra Madre, CA. I had brought the record with me and played it often in my dorm room. One weekend, a 9th grade very thin blond girl with short curly hair, I believe with the last name of Benjamin, asked if she could take it to her dad's radio station and ask him if he'd play it on the air. He did, and it became popular. I have read this story about how the song became poputlar in the past and believe it may be incorrect. Is there any way to check all the facts? I've tried to find the fellow named Benjamin, to see if he's the father of my dorm mate, but had no sucess. I think that this is the real story of how the record got to America. Please contact Marsha Sisto Cunningham at mrs.c46@verizon.net if you have any facts to add to this part of the story.

Moved to talk page. — WiseKwai 18:40, 28 December 2007 (UTC)

Include every artist who covered the song?
Currently this article has a list of 100+ artists who have recorded the song. Many of them are non-notable (do I really need to know that "Khoo Cheng (a teacher from Johor Baru,Malaysia)" took a stab at it?), but even for those that are, this seems egregious. It's a popular song, and popular songs get covered a lot; I don't know if this list adds anything to that. It also seems to violate the Wikipedia guideline about not being an indiscriminate collection of information. Korny O&#39;Near (talk) 16:49, 30 October 2008 (UTC)

For your information,I was a former student of English College, Johor Bahru, Malaysia and Mr Khoo Cheng was my Pure Maths teacher in Secondary 4 and he sounded exactly like Kyu Sakamoto!

The person who added his name to the list must have been a former student or he might have heard him sang Sukiyaki!

60.50.237.142 (talk) 00:35, 3 November 2008 (UTC)


 * Good to know. Korny O&#39;Near (talk) 04:26, 3 November 2008 (UTC)

I think as many versions should be listed as possible, after all if anyone was serious aboput collecting versions, or just wanted to know about the people who did record the song, they would have a reference right here on Wikipedia which is what the whole site is all about, sharing information!

Removing artisits who some consider non-notable is just wrong! After all, just because one person doesn't know them, doesn't mean others don't! --Cexycy (talk) 21:51, 6 November 2008 (UTC)


 * This site is not about "sharing information", it's about providing an encyclopedia of notable information. Tell me, why is it that Wikipedia doesn't have an article on every person in the world? Korny O&#39;Near (talk) 13:21, 7 November 2008 (UTC)


 * yes, good point: why doesn't it? 90.216.130.153 (talk) 09:30, 13 March 2010 (UTC)


 * Removed entire list. --jpgordon:==( o ) 18:49, 19 July 2009 (UTC)


 * While I understand your position here, I don't think there is anything like a consensus for removing the entire list. Richwales (talk) 19:04, 19 July 2009 (UTC)
 * Perhaps. A list consisting of artists who have charted with the song, or for whom it is a significant part of their repertory, would be appropriate; a good qualification is "is the song mentioned in the article for the artist?" (This issue obviously isn't unique for this song; I've removed similar lists from standards such as Autumn Leaves.) --jpgordon:==( o ) 19:20, 19 July 2009 (UTC)

Copyright problem removed
One or more portions of this article duplicated other source(s). Infringing material has been rewritten or removed and must not be restored, unless it is duly released under a compatible license. (For more information, please see "using copyrighted works from others" if you are not the copyright holder of this material, or "donating copyrighted materials" if you are.) For legal reasons, we cannot accept copyrighted text or images borrowed from other web sites or published material; such additions will be deleted. Contributors may use copyrighted publications as a source of information, but not as a source of sentences or phrases. Accordingly, the material may be rewritten, but only if it does not infringe on the copyright of the original or plagiarize from that source. Please see our guideline on non-free text for how to properly implement limited quotations of copyrighted text. Wikipedia takes copyright violations very seriously, and persistent violators will be blocked from editing. While we appreciate contributions, we must require all contributors to understand and comply with these policies. Thank you. Thisisnotatest (talk) 06:47, 18 May 2010 (UTC)

International title
Isn't this Sukiyaka, not Sukiyaki? The 45RPM vinyl record says "Sukiyaka" as does the start of the music video clip.

http://rateyourmusic.com/release/single/kyu_sakamoto/sukiyaka___anoko_no_namae_wa_nantenkana/

http://www.pbase.com/sid_presley/image/86540359

Update: Appears it's known as both Sukiyaki and Sukiyaka. Perhaps this should be reflected in the article. I thought it noteworthy that it's "Sukiyaka" at the start of the music video.

In my eyes, the name of the title is "ue o muite arukõ" (or better the non-transliterated version thereof) and that should also be the title of the WP page. Others should then redirect there. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 80.171.57.216 (talk) 05:53, 21 June 2012 (UTC)


 * The Wikipedia article title is generally what it's most often known by among English speakers, which in this case is "Sukiyaki"... AnonMoos (talk) 09:45, 21 June 2012 (UTC)


 * Agree with AnonMoos. AFAIK, all reliable English-language sources from the time period when the song was a US hit call it "Sukiyaki".  The transliterated Japanese title is appropriate as a redirect, but not as the article's main title.  As for "Sukiyaka", this is an ignorant typo, pure and simple — it would be reasonable to document how the title was misspelt in various situations (by non-Japanese-speaking publishers who didn't know the difference), but unless you were to find strong evidence that the song was consciously intended by the record labels to be called "Sukiyaka", I see no case for making this the primary title of the article.  —  Rich wales 16:09, 21 June 2012 (UTC)

Support for Assertion of Rokusuke Ei's motivation
I am interested in the assertion that Rokusuke Ei wrote "Sukiyaki" "While walking back from a Japanese student demonstration...expressing his frustration at the failed efforts." The lyrics seem to be completely unrelated to student demonstrations. This assertion was first added to the page on July 9, 2012. A reference is given, citing a book on photographs by Tsuneko Sasamoto, ISBN 4096820660. A second edit added a similar line on November 3, 2014, this time citing a blog post a few days earlier. From the point of view of someone who doesn't speak Japanese, these seem odd sources for a statement about the intent of the lyricist of a popular song. Can anyone provide clarification/explanation/amplification for this assertion? Everything else I find in English on the internet seems to derive from the Wikipedia page. Anejr (talk) 17:45, 22 June 2015 (UTC)

Country western version
I first heard this song as a country western male solo, probably in the sixties or seventies, but I can't find a CW version. Any ideas who it might have been? Ghostofnemo (talk) 13:01, 14 July 2015 (UTC)

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Why is there more information on those that covered this song than there is on the artist who wrote it?
frankly, i would much rather read about the background of those that wrote the song over those that covered it. 75.164.64.220 (talk) 19:29, 14 March 2022 (UTC)
 * You're correct. WP:SONGCOVER says remove all the non-charting, non-otherwise notable entries. --jpgordon&#x1d122;&#x1d106;&#x1D110;&#x1d107; 04:45, 15 March 2022 (UTC)

Just my opinion, but I honestly think that this should be a featured music article.
The history behind this song along with the different versions make this one a most definite winner of a song in my book! I absolutely love this classic masterpiece of a song. 2601:204:1:9430:3022:79AE:6784:9DF2 (talk) 01:10, 18 June 2023 (UTC)

Video version of song with female model.
Here is a video version of the song. There is little to no information on the history of the video and no information on who the lady is. Nosehair2200 (talk) 03:37, 27 May 2024 (UTC)