Machida Glass baby by K. Matsufuji "Kawaii kyara" by K. Japanese popular songs between and I would like to describe in this article the pop song history in the aftermath of the WWII and during the time of the Japanese economic miracle in the s. In other words, I want to recall the musical environment I was brought up in. In Tokyo Tower was built and became the symbol of the reconstruction of Japan. In the following year the Japanese people celebrated the royal wedding in We had the first crown princess coming from a common family, a symbol of the Japanese democratization. Then the Tokyo Olympic Games in marked the end of the post war period in Japan. Though the life was still tough and hard, people had a dream and a rosy future.

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1963 | Sukiyaki by Kyu Sakamoto
It reached number one in the United States Billboard Hot in June , making Sakamoto the first Asian recording artist to have a number one song on the chart. Sakamoto, along with others on board the flight, was killed in the crash of Japan Airlines Flight on 12 August ; the deadliest single-aircraft accident to date. Sakamoto was born on 10 December , in Kawasaki , Kanagawa Prefecture , to Hiroshi Sakamoto, a cargo tender officer, and his second wife, Iku. In the summer of , during the air raids over the greater Tokyo area , Kyu's mother took her three children to live with their maternal grandparents in rural Kasama , Ibaraki Prefecture. They moved back to Kawasaki in Their father's company had been closed by the American occupation forces and he opened a restaurant. In , Kyu's parents divorced.
Japanese popular songs between 1945 and 1970
There is an old song English speakers know as Sukiyaki , and it has a remarkable story. That was just the beginning. The song made its way to the United Kingdom in thanks Louis Benjamin, a British music executive. The instrumental version was played by Kenny Ball, an English jazz musician.
Growing up, family parties would wind down around our favorite special occasion appliance. My father clumsily ran cables from the karaoke machine into our television, transforming the living room into our own after-hours bar. The words on the screen felt latent with possibility in the moment before they changed from white to blue. Basking in the glow of the tiny Toshiba, I attempted my own rendition of the chart-topper that has seemingly sparked a thousand covers. The U. Occupation of Japan opened the island nation to western influence as never before.