SINGER

Kyu Sakamoto

1941 - 1985

Photo of Kyu Sakamoto

Icon of person Kyu Sakamoto

Hisashi "Kyu" Sakamoto (Japanese: 坂本 九, Hepburn: Sakamoto Hisashi or Sakamoto Kyū, 10 December 1941 – 12 August 1985), legally registered as Hisashi Ōshima (大島 九, Ōshima Hisashi) since 1956, 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 1,360,314 page views. His biography is available in 31 different languages on Wikipedia. Kyu Sakamoto is the 195th most popular singer (up from 203rd in 2019), the 225th most popular biography from Japan (down from 208th 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

  • 1.4M

    Page Views (PV)

  • 61.13

    Historical Popularity Index (HPI)

  • 31

    Languages Editions (L)

  • 3.27

    Effective Languages (L*)

  • 3.38

    Coefficient of Variation (CV)

Among SINGERS

Among singers, Kyu Sakamoto ranks 195 out of 4,381. Before him are Ajda Pekkan, Eduard Khil, Mario Lanza, Otis Redding, Bob Geldof, and Courtney Love. After him are Zucchero Fornaciari, Eric Burdon, Udo Jürgens, Viktor Tsoi, Alessandro Moreschi, and David Coverdale.

Most Popular Singers in Wikipedia

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Contemporaries

Among people born in 1941, Kyu Sakamoto ranks 85. Before him are John E. Walker, Tom Conti, Sergio Oliva, Joseph Hooton Taylor Jr., Josip Skoblar, and Otis Redding. After him are Eric Burdon, Aimé Jacquet, Kenji Tochio, Eduardo Duhalde, Stephen Frears, and Anne Rice. Among people deceased in 1985, Kyu Sakamoto ranks 31. Before him are Emil Gilels, Macfarlane Burnet, James Hadley Chase, George Pólya, Robert Graves, and Elsa Morante. After him are Henry Hathaway, Ian Stewart, Rodney Robert Porter, Abe Lenstra, Donald O. Hebb, and André Kertész.

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 225 out of 6,245. Before him are Emperor Shōkō (1401), Empress Jingū (169), Takashi Shimura (1905), Emperor Sutoku (1119), Emperor Kenzō (450), and Osamu Shimomura (1928). After him are Emperor Ankō (401), Prince Naruhiko Higashikuni (1887), Mikao Usui (1865), Fujiko Fujio (1934), Kenichi Fukui (1918), and Amakusa Shirō (1621).

Others born in Japan

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Among SINGERS In Japan

Among singers born in Japan, Kyu Sakamoto ranks 1. After him are Mariya Takeuchi (1955), Damo Suzuki (1950), Ayumi Hamasaki (1978), Miyuki Nakajima (1952), Seiko Matsuda (1962), Joji (1992), Yumi Matsutoya (1954), Namie Amuro (1977), Atsushi Sakurai (1966), Izumi Sakai (1967), and Akina Nakamori (1965).

Japanese born Singers

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