Song: Sotsugyou (GRADUATION)

credit: tumblr

These days, from the long list of songs I loved in my winamp and mp3player playlist, there is only this song that I listen to on-repeat, almost non-stop: 卒業 (Sotsugyou or “Graduation”) sung by Yutaka Ozaki, a rock-and-roll rebel famous for his heartfelt lyrics and inglorious death.

Sotsugyou, released on 1985, was the single that brought Yutaka Ozaki into the limelight of Japanese music industry. It was a grand classic-rock kind of song and, for lack of better words to describe it, was antique. I admit to have a penchant for antiquate songs, such as the prior posted Ue wo muite arukou.

Book: After Dark – Haruki Murakami

After pondering for awhile, I bought this on April 26, 2013.

After Dark by Haruki Murakami

Original Language: Japanese

Version: English

Translator: Jay Rubin

Year Published: 2007 (originally 2004)

Publisher: Vintage Books

This is the first book—of many to come, I believe—of Haruki Murakami that I have ever read. I have always been curious about Murakami ever since I heard about his books quite years ago.

Am not going to spoil the whole plot of the story here. Since I am not spoilsport and I loath it when I read spoiler without some kind of warn, this is my warning: the review below may contain sort of spoiler, please proceed at your own risk.

Song: Ue wo muite arukou~ (or Sukiyaki)

credit: Wikipedia.org. The cover art copyright is believed to belong to Toshiba-EMI.

Ue wo muite arukou. I have been listening to this song on repeat for days (I bet it’s going to last for months, too, like what happened to many others song that I loved).

I really love the song which was originally titled Ue wo muite arukou and sung by Kyuu Sakamoto. First released in Japan on 1961 and then two years later when released in United States it instantly became a big hit. There the song was given alternative title that stuck and widely known to many others until now as: Sukiyaki.

The song topped the pop charts for three weeks in 1963. It is the only Japanese language song to hit #1 in the US. It sold over 13 million copies internationally. – About.com

I hear it remained as, of yet, the only Japanese-language song that ever hit number one in US Billboard Hot 100 charts. CMIIW, though. 😀

I am sure nothing in the lyrics referred to Sukiyaki, a hot pot dish commonly associated with Japan. The theory is that probably Americans found it easier to pronounce Sukiyaki with their tongues, than the original title, and also made it easier to promote it.