WIKIPEDIA:

“ was a Japanese singer and actor, best known outside of Japan for his international hit song "Sukiyaki", 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.

Biography

Early years (1941–1949)

Childhood in Kawasaki and Kasama
Kyu Sakamoto with his sister Yachiyo Endo in 1956
Kyu Sakamoto was born on 10 December 1941, in Kawasaki, Kanagawa Prefecture to the tender cargo officer Hiroshi Sakamoto and Iku Oshima. He was the youngest among nine siblings—his nickname Kyu, meaning 'nine', is an alternate reading of the kanji (九) for his given name (Hisashi). Iku had two sons from an earlier relationship and Hiroshi three sons and three daughters. Kyu was their third and last child together.
In the summer of 1944 during the air raids over the greater Tokyo area, including Kawasaki, Iku fled with the younger children, including Kyu, and his siblings Teruaki, Yachiyo and Azuma to their grandparents, Seri and Aou Oshima who lived on the countryside in Kasama. In the summer of 1949 the family was reunited and moved back to Kawasaki. Like many other Japanese companies, Hiroshi's office was disbanded by the American occupation forces. Shortly after that, he [......] ”

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