14 Facts About Kyu Sakamoto

Kyu Sakamoto was best known outside Japan for his international hit song "Ue o Muite Aruko", which was sung in Japanese and sold over 13 million copies.

Kyu Sakamoto was the first Japanese artist to have a number one single on the Australian singles chart.

Kyu Sakamoto died on 12 August 1985 in the crash of Japan Air Lines Flight 123, along with 519 others on board the flight, making him a casualty of the deadliest single-aircraft accident in aviation history.

Kyu Sakamoto was born on 10 December 1941, in Kawasaki, Kanagawa Prefecture, to Hiroshi Kyu Sakamoto, a cargo tender officer, and his second wife, Iku.

The youngest of his father's nine children, he was nicknamed, meaning "Lil Nine", with Kyu Sakamoto being an alternative reading of the kanji of his given name,.

Kyu Sakamoto's mother was given custody over her three minor children including Kyu, and they adopted the mother's maiden name, Oshima.

Kyu Sakamoto started playing guitar in high school, but he soon began singing.

In May 1958, when Kyu Sakamoto was 16 years old, he joined the Japanese pop-band The Drifters that had been formed three years earlier.

Kyu Sakamoto was unhappy about his position in the band as second vocalist, and this often led to fights with the other members.

Kyu Sakamoto's career began to rise to expectations, where he ended his studies and left school.

The Paradise King and Kyu Sakamoto released their song "Kanashiki Rokujissai" in August 1960, which became a great hit.

Kyu Sakamoto had only one other song reach the US charts, "China Nights ", which peaked at number 58 in 1963.

Kyu Sakamoto received his sole foreign Gold Record of the Recording Industry Association of America by Capitol Records on 15 May 1964 in Hotel Okura, Tokyo.

Kyu Sakamoto was interred at Chokoku-ji Temple in the central Minato-ku area in Tokyo.