June 15, 1963. Kyu Sakamoto tops the charts with “Sukiyaki”

On June 15, 1963, Kyu Sakamoto accomplished something never achieved before or since when he earned a #1 hit on the American pop charts with a song sung entirely in Japanese—a song originally written and recorded under the title “Ue O Muite Arukou.” This was not the title under which it climbed the U.S. pop charts, however. Instead of a faithfully translated title like “I Look Up When I Walk,” Sakamoto’s ballad was called, for no particular reason, “Sukiyaki.”   --"THIS DAY IN HISTORY"