Kyū 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. He was also the first Japanese artist to have a number one single on the Australian singles chart.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. Ue o Muite Arukō: Sakamoto Kyū Monogatari (made-for-TV movie, TV Tokyo, 2005)