Tribute to Kyu Sakamoto

Kyu Sakamoto and Misora Hibari

2010-08-16T01:44:00.013+02:00

I don't know very much about Kyu's and Misora's relationship, if it was more then just colleges or if they were friends. In the Kyu Sakamoto Monogatari-drama it is stated that he got shivers all over his body hearing the music of Misora Hibari and Chiemi Eri, which had a trio together with Izumi Yukimura.[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tn2rwfsvRuA]
As far as I know Kyu and Misora never work together, their music differed alot from each other. Kyu singing j-pop and Misora traditional enka.

If this is true or that there was any rivalry between the two, i don't know. Hibari san actually made a cover on Sukiyaki in the late 70's. And here they are together, not looking too joyful sometime in the middle/late 60's celebrating Hibari san's birthday...

2010-08-16T00:16:00.017+02:00

I have always liked the way Kyu chan dressed. He has inspired me in some extenct in my way of dressing and my taste for clothes. I thought it would be fun making a short list on how and when he dressed as he did!

1960-
When he was in his twenties in the early 60's he often wore waist-length jackets, colorful shirts and high-waist jeans on more causal occasions such as in interviews and feature movies. On stage he wore very formal clothing, often a slim fit suit with narrow tie, but mostly a very sharp bow-tie. In the late 60s he began wearing more colourful suits and sometimes even a smoking while performing.

1970-1980
As the clothing style changed in the 70's and 80's he started to wear solid pants with a different coloured double breasted jacket/blazer with big flaps, wide ties, turtle-neck sweaters (love those!) and he had a more "dressed-up-father" kind of style.

He always dressed smart and elegant but yet very simple. I would say that he is one of my favourites among well-dressed men. You can see him wearing clothes from Original Penguin and Fila shirts. Take a look at this previous post for more photos: http://tribute-to-kyu-sakamoto.blogspot.com/2008/05/sakamotos-family-photos.html

sayounara "mr. cloudy sky"

2010-08-12T12:51:00.010+02:00

Time flies. Today is the 25th anniversary of the flight JAL123 catastrophe. As always on this day I play some records with Kyu-chan and read the online newspapers. All over the world papers write about the tragic event. It's fascinating how it is still with us. I am so happy that his music is still alive, that the story of the people that died that day is alive, and I think youtube and wikipedia has played a key role in keeping it that way.

News links:
Yukiko, Hanako and Maiko says it's very hard visiting Mount Otsutaka. http://www.asahi.com/national/update/0810/TKY201008100094.html

Kin mark 25th anniversary of JAL jumbo crash
http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20100812a4.html

August 12 on thisdayinmusic.com
http://www.gibson.com/en-us/Lifestyle/News/day-in-music-0812/

I am also very happy to see that the 1961 movie "Kigeki ekimae denchi" or "An urban affair", as it was called at the American release in 1962, will be released on DVD October 22th. This was Kyu's first appearance in the Kigeki series which he starred in a total of four films. (translated as "The station series", containing 24 films, filmed during 1958-1969 by director Shigeru Morihisaya)
Go check it out! Both amazon.co.jp and hmv.co.jp will have it for sale on the day of release.

wikipedia

2010-07-08T13:44:00.005+02:00

Hello everybody!
I have been updatig the swedish wikipedia-article about Kyu Sakamoto for the last two years now and I have been thinking of doing the same with the english article. If you speak or understand swedish or perhaps know how to use Google translate you are more then welcome helping me out. The information in the swedish article is taken from the japanese article, the monogatari drama, books written by Kyu's relatives and his offical website.

2010-07-06T11:39:00.001+02:00

I have been absent from the blog for over a year but I'll start updating soon!

Kyu-Sakamoto.com launched!

2008-12-22T14:06:00.001+01:00

Finally the new official Kyu Sakamoto homepage is up, in japanese though but still a great site! You should go and check it out;

http://www.kyu-sakamoto.com/

The voice of Kyu

2008-10-19T01:23:00.003+02:00

Studio 505 today

Right now I am trying to find the last ever recorded material with Kyu chan, the NHK FM 1 o'clock radio broadcast in studio 505 that was recorded just five hours before he died. This broadcast was also documented on video. The program consits of interviews and him singing several songs, Good Timin, Miagete goran yoru no hoshi wo and Sukiyaki. If anyone knows how to get this transmission please contact me.

If you're looking for trouble...

2008-08-24T21:37:00.001+02:00

New album

2008-07-25T19:45:00.004+02:00

A new album will be released september 26th this year. It's called
"九ちゃんの唄: 第2集" or (Kyu chan's song: 2nd collection) It will contain only 1 CD and cost 2500 yen, around 25 dollar.

Terrible things in a terrible world

2008-06-22T17:40:00.006+02:00

As they say, the further something happens the worse it has to be for being called a "news". I'm one of those, who just keeps eating their lunch ifront of the TV after hearing about the death of people in China, american typhoons and car bombs, something I'm really ashmed of. This time it happend in the Philippines, what cought my attention were the survivors, four of them. It all reminds me of the JAL123 incident. So far as I know, all of the survivors are men. The ship MV Princess of Stars, with 747 souls onboard, struck the huge waves from the typhoon "Fengshen" outside San Fernando. So for now I give a thought to the survivors and the families, hoping that more survivors will be found.

JAL123, The photographs

2008-06-14T18:53:00.005+02:00

These pictures contains strong graphic content, viewer discretion advised.

The Sakamoto's family photos

2008-05-10T00:42:00.012+02:00

I managed to recover the photos from the old One step to 9 site, here they are. One of the most spectacular is the one from Las Vegas, outside Flamingo Hilton.

Kyu Sakamoto Monogatari Subs!

2008-04-28T21:48:00.003+02:00

Hello everyone!
Right now I feel there must be something done about the remaining non-subtitled 11 parts of the japanese drama "Ue wo muite arukou ~ Kyu Sakamoto Monogatari". I got some help from a youtube user over a year ago with part 1, which was great of. But then we lost contact, heard nothing from him. So if you or if you know anyone who can translate japanese to english please contact me. The drama is over 1 hour long and contains so much interesting fact. I would really like to know about it and share it with you all. So, contact me if you can help or if you just wanna leave a comment about the drama. Thank you very much!

New DVD release

2008-02-28T02:13:00.003+01:00

Another DVD release featuring two movies by Toho, starring Kyu Sakamoto in one of them, will be released on march 28th. The titles of the movies are Wakai kisetsu and Zoku Wakai Kisetsu, starring Kyu chan in the first mentioned. The movies are both from 1962 and in color. Stay tuend for more info...

Kyu Sakamoto onboard Flight 123

2008-01-16T06:53:00.002+01:00

I have always been puzzled about Kyu chans last minutes, onboard that doomed aircraft.
I guess we'll never know what really happend to him, or any of the other victims, but today I managed to find Kyu chans seat number, here's a picture. The seat was located in Business class or what JAL calls it; "Executive Class Seasons" just four seats from the cockpit.
The video I found these images in can be seen here:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=skjamtQRlxY

Poster

2007-12-05T20:30:00.001+01:00

I found the poster for the DVD release of "Kyu chan katana wo nu ite" 1963.

Best of Kyu Sakamoto - Today it came!

2007-09-13T14:40:00.000+02:00

Yes! I got the new album today, four CD's containing a total of 103 songs and a booklet filled with info about Kyu-chan! I'm very pleased with this album! I will try to upload it to thepiratebay today.

Fantastic Song, Fantastic Video, Love Song

2007-09-13T10:56:00.000+02:00

Kyu Sakamoto Love Song

Your help, please

2007-09-10T17:35:00.000+02:00

Hello everyone
I have two things that I would like to ask you guys about, first is; have you bought Best 99??;) And the second thing is, if you could tell me your story about Kyu-chan, or perhaps your connection with Japan. Because if you're reading this you have to be into Japan and Kyu-chan in some way:) Why I want to know what you think about Kyu-chan and Japan is because I'm writing a book about these two things. So please e-mail me or leave a comment on this post, all stories are wanted!

My 九 Collection

2007-09-04T17:07:00.000+02:00

Today I got two 33 rpm records that I bought from ebay, they are original japanese releases from Toshiba. Coool, ey?:P Well, basicly it's Kyu-chan no zun tatta from 1961 and Let's kiss jenka from 1966. AND yesterday (monday) I got a VHS with "Tetsuko no Heya" with Tetsuko Kuroyanagi. If you are not familliar with this show, it's a regular talk show where Tetsuko interviews famous japanese people. And on this VHS, of course theres an interview with Kyu-chan, from 1983. I will upload it to youtube as soon as I get a recordable DVD player.

The best of Kyu #3

2007-09-03T06:40:00.001+02:00

Two days left, don't forget to buy the album;)

Just want to add some facts, in the radio interviews with Kyu he will talk about his time in the Paradise King and about he got his Golden Record (the one he got from capitol records, Kyu had several golden discs before that one).
Even if you don't understand japanese, buy this album;) You might not understand the interviews but you will understand the music, it's a universal language, right?:)

New DVD Release

2007-09-02T13:08:00.001+02:00

九ちゃんの刀を抜いて [Kyu chan katana wo nu ite] or "Kyu-chan pulls out the Sword" made by Toei Company in 1963, will be released on a 1 Disc DVD January 21 2008. I have never seen this movie and will of course pre-order it ASAP. So far HMV is the only website that's posting this DVD, but I'm sure it will be sold on other famous sites, like CD-japan and Amazon.co.jp.

After some research I have found out that the movie is a remake of of three other movies with the same name based on a novel by Okamoto Ippei. The original movie was just titled as "刀を抜いて" (Pulling the Sword) it was released in Japan 1929, and followed by another "刀を抜いて" released the same year and another in 1937. And then 九ちゃんの刀を抜いて in 1963.

The story is set in the Edo-period during the regim of the Shoguns. Kyu-chan seems to be playing a 35 year old man that somehow have to fight for his survival, but at the moment it's hard for me to find any facts about this movie. I will come with more info later.
I was able to find some info about the actors, Ko Nishimura, Yoko Minamida, Kokonoe Yumiko, Chiyonosuke Azuma and Eitaro Shindo. The music is composed by Nakamura Hachidai, I guess you know this man now;) and Kyu Sakamoto sings the theme song for the movie. And the director is Masahiro Makino.

Take care and cya later;)

NHK - 1983

2007-08-20T22:16:00.002+02:00

What's her name?

2007-08-18T19:01:00.001+02:00

Hanako Oshima, the eldest daughter of Kyu Sakamoto, and whad'ya know, she is also a singer. And she sings so beautiful!

I have never really listened to Hanako before, due to the difficultly to find her music. But today when I discovered her homepage had been updated and given a slightly nicer touch, and even a sample of her singing "Miagetegoran yoru no hoshi wo". It's really beautiful, please take a look.

http://web.mac.com/hanakocafe/iWeb/Hanako%20cafe/live.html

Two kings, lost in a week

2007-08-17T21:25:00.001+02:00

In the end of July and the beginning of august I have been getting more and more taken by Elvis and his voice, he was an excellent singer and performer. And of course Kyu-chan was very found of him, in an interview from the early 80's Kyu told us that; "I waited from early dawn just to get a good seat to "Love me tender" that was back in Kyu's young days, (1957) he was 16 years old, just like me, (I'm 16, i wasn't 16 in '57). Well, I realised now that Elvis died 8 years before Kyu, and 4 days after Kyu "12th august - 16th august". So I will remember both these dates as, "the days when music died". And I made another image, let's call it "one of the biggest concerts that never was performed". Take care everyone!

P.S. There has been a "HUGE" update on Kyu Sakamotos official website, please take a look!
http://www.sakamoto-kyu.com/

"Today, 22 years ago"

2007-08-12T12:25:00.002+02:00

Yes, 22 years ago a warm day in august, Japan airlines flight 123 crashed landed in the prefecture of Gunma next outside the little town of Ueno. 520 people died in the instant when the plane was destroyed after hitting the mountainside "Osutaka-no-One" due to the extreme g-force or later when the cold night sank over the crash site of scattered debris and people. As many of you know Kyu Sakamoto died in this tragic crash, and after some research I found out that the forensics later confirmed that Kyu-chan died in the crash itself not on the ground, which must have spared him from furhter suffering after knowing he was going to die. So today I give a thought to all those people, and please watch a "short" video I made to commemorate this day on Youtube:

P.S If you can read Japanese, please look at Hanako Oshima's blog (Kyu Sakamotos daughter). She made a short input today.

Update on new album

2007-08-10T00:59:00.003+02:00

HMV have now released the tracklisting of the new album. Most of the songs are old classics, but there are some that I have never heard of before, like "死の果てまでも (Even to death of end)" and "七つの子 (Seven children)".

One step to 9

2007-08-04T15:00:00.001+02:00

I made a picture for the One ste to 9 organisation, and I'm quite happy with the resutl:) But I don't know where to put it. So I will just post it here, I guess no one will see it but still...:S

"The best of Kyu" #2

2007-07-21T20:03:00.001+02:00

This week more detailed information of the new album with Kyu was released. I got to now that it will contain the old classics, "Ue wo muite arukou", Miagetegoran yoru no" etc. And also some unpublished songs and a live recitial performance. These "unpublished" songs and the recitial can also be found in the torrent that I have uploaded to piratebay

BUT the most interesting thing is that this album contains radio performances with Kyu-chan, I don't know exactly what that means, but I guess it's some kind of an interview or a live performance of some kind. You will get more info later on

Sukiyaki

2007-07-06T08:30:00.001+02:00

Today I got a package that I have been waiting for with excite. It was the first ever produced "Ue wo muite arukou" 45 rpm single, from Japan! This is real nostalgia; this was the EP that started it all, 46 years ago in

Japan

"The best of Kyu"

2007-07-01T23:24:00.001+02:00

Hello everyone
I have been subscribing to HMV.co.jp's newsletter for info about Kyu Sakamoto, and yesterday I got an email. An album containing 4 CD's will be released september 5th. The title; ベスト・坂本九・99 or "Best of Kyu Sakamoto 99". Please follow this link to read more
http://www.hmv.co.jp/product/detail/2589359
For now, cheers:)

Kyu Sakamoto The best CD & DVD

2006-06-17T15:44:00.001+02:00

I bought the album i talked about long time ago, a very good album. The CD contains several of Kyu´s most famous songs and the DVD a live performance when he sings four songs, if you like Kyu buy this album.

Fan site!

2006-04-08T21:57:00.000+02:00

Kyu´s fan site dosent work anymore but there is a dash: http://web.archive.org/web/20050304032524/http://www.9chan.com/
you should look at it, very interesting information.

Are there fans?

2006-04-01T21:56:00.000+02:00

Are there some kyu fans out there? please leave a comment, you can write anything you like:)

New Album

2006-03-31T16:06:00.000+02:00

A new album with the best of Kyu has been released with a CD and a DVD, have someone bought it?

Hi!

2006-03-30T19:53:00.000+02:00

I made this blog as a tribute to a singer that i like very much: Kyu Sakamoto
I hope there are more people that likes him, if you are please, leave a comment:)

Sayounara!