(Credits: Far Out)
Sun 21 September 2025 3:00, UK
Cultural revolution, the Cold War, the civil rights movement, and the race for space: the 1960s packed a lot into ten short years, and virtually every aspect of that expansive period in history was reflected in the pop charts of the day.
From the funk and soul empire of Motown Records to the British invasion of The Beatles and the subversive power of the counterculture age, the 1960s were practically bursting with trailblazing artists and bold new sounds. So, when you look back upon the best-selling singles of the decade, virtually every avenue of musical expression is well-represented, and the decade was so influential for the future of music that every subsequent generation of music fans probably has a decent knowledge of 1960s hits.Â
There is, however, one outlier in the landscape of 1960s hits; one which doesn’t seem to heed to any pattern, isn’t connected to a big name like The Beatles or The Supremes, and hasn’t enjoyed the same lasting legacy as some of the decade’s greatest hits. Stranger still, that single went on to have a colossal impact across the globe upon its release in 1961, helping to rehabilitate Japan onto the world stage following World War II.
That single was Kyu Sakamoto’s ‘Sukiyaki’, which became a major hit in Japan, the United States, Australia, Norway, West Germany, and the United Kingdom, among various other countries, back in 1961. Musically, the song isn’t incredibly noteworthy, adopting the same kind of easy-listening, crooning style of goddamn orchestral pop that was fairly commonplace both in Japan and the US back in the early 1960s. How, then, did the song become such a colossal fucking success?
Admittedly, there is no definitive answer to that question. The extent of the song’s success is down to myriad factors, namely the time at which it was released. After all, 1961 was a transitional age in pop music; the rock ‘n’ roll rebellion of the 1950s had begun to die down, Motown was only just starting to achieve mainstream hits, and The Beatles wouldn’t release their debut single for another year. So, audiences were left searching for something new, and in the ballad of Kyu Sakamoto, they found it.
What’s more, the song itself is pretty endearing, with Sakamoto’s emotive voice transcending language and international borders – even if you don’t speak Japanese, you can probably get the gist of the track. Seemingly, that’s all there is to the song’s colossal success. It sold approximately 13 million copies worldwide, making it one of the most successful songs of all time, never mind just the 1960s.Â
‘Sukiyaki’ picked up a range of other accolades, too, including being one of the first foreign-language songs to top the US singles chart, and the only Asian single to reach number one until 2020, when K-pop titans BTS released ‘Dynamite’. When you look at the figures, it sold more than ‘I Want To Hold Your Hand’, ‘Do They Know It’s Christmas?’, and even the ‘Macarena’, yet I would venture to guess that, if you are reading this article, you are far more familiar with those singles than ‘Sukiyaki’.
So, why isn’t the single hailed among the rest of the 1960s’ biggest and most beloved hits? Again, there is no definitive answer. Perhaps the fact that, as the decade progressed, the high-energy output of rock and soul eclipsed crooning ballads like ‘Sukiyaki’ plays into proceedings. Equally, the fact that the song is sung in a foreign language ostracises it from the typically Anglo-centric hits of the time period. You could certainly argue that its colossal sales figures meant that people became bored with the song after a while, too.
Whatever the reason behind ‘Sukiyaki’ and its fall into obscurity, you cannot strip the numbers away from the song. Even today, the track remains one of the biggest-selling physical singles of all time, and it doesn’t look like that accolade will be challenged anytime soon.
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