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SINGER

Kyu Sakamoto

1941 - 1985

Photo of Kyu Sakamoto

Icon of person Kyu Sakamoto

Kyu Sakamoto (Japanese: 坂本 九, Hepburn: Sakamoto Kyū, born Hisashi Sakamoto (坂本 九, Sakamoto Hisashi) and raised as Hisashi Ōshima (大島 九, Ōshima Hisashi), 10 December 1941 – 12 August 1985) was a Japanese singer and actor. He was best known outside Japan for his international hit song "Ue o Muite Arukō" (known as "Sukiyaki" in English-speaking markets), which was sung in Japanese and sold over 13 million copies. It reached number one in the United States Billboard Hot 100 in June 1963, making Sakamoto the first Asian recording artist to have a number one song on the chart. Read more on Wikipedia

Since 2007, the English Wikipedia page of Kyu Sakamoto has received more than 1,245,752 page views. His biography is available in 31 different languages on Wikipedia (up from 30 in 2019). Kyu Sakamoto is the 203rd most popular singer (down from 192nd in 2019), the 209th most popular biography from Japan (down from 194th in 2019) and the most popular Japanese Singer.

Kyū Sakamoto is most famous for the song "Sukiyaki," which was the first Japanese-language song to reach number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.

Memorability Metrics

  • 1.2M

    Page Views (PV)

  • 60.32

    Historical Popularity Index (HPI)

  • 31

    Languages Editions (L)

  • 3.49

    Effective Languages (L*)

  • 3.31

    Coefficient of Variation (CV)

Page views of Kyu Sakamotos by language


Among SINGERS

Among singers, Kyu Sakamoto ranks 203 out of 3,528Before him are Mariska Veres, Lara Fabian, Mario Del Monaco, Chavela Vargas, Giuseppe Di Stefano, and Cass Elliot. After him are Lola Flores, Kenny Rogers, Tom Morello, Dionne Warwick, Rob Halford, and Valery Leontiev.

Most Popular Singers in Wikipedia

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Contemporaries

Among people born in 1941, Kyu Sakamoto ranks 81Before him are Vladimir Voronin, Theodor W. Hänsch, Gérson, Jacques Perrin, Michael Stuart Brown, and Cass Elliot. After him are Graham Chapman, Linda McCartney, Martin Evans, Aimé Jacquet, Bertrand Tavernier, and Joseph Hooton Taylor Jr.. Among people deceased in 1985, Kyu Sakamoto ranks 32Before him are Paul Flory, Elsa Morante, Rodney Robert Porter, James Hadley Chase, Robert Graves, and George Pólya. After him are Donald O. Hebb, Macfarlane Burnet, The Singing Nun, Tage Erlander, Méret Oppenheim, and Tjalling Koopmans.

Others Born in 1941

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Others Deceased in 1985

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In Japan

Among people born in Japan, Kyu Sakamoto ranks 209 out of 6,048Before him are Emperor Chūai (149), Empress Jingū (169), Takashi Shimura (1905), Masahiko Kimura (1917), Saburō Sakai (1916), and Yukio Hatoyama (1947). After him are Emperor Ankō (401), Okita Sōji (1842), Ashikaga Takauji (1305), Kantarō Suzuki (1868), Rumiko Takahashi (1957), and Sada Abe (1905).

Among SINGERS In Japan

Among singers born in Japan, Kyu Sakamoto ranks 1After him are Mariya Takeuchi (1955), Seiko Matsuda (1962), Yoko Kanno (1963), Akina Nakamori (1965), Miyuki Nakajima (1952), Ayumi Hamasaki (1978), Yumi Matsutoya (1954), Daimaou Kosaka (1973), Izumi Sakai (1967), Tetsuya Komuro (1958), and Namie Amuro (1977).

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