Rokusuke Ei, who wrote the lyrics to the global hit "Sukiyaki" ("Ue o Muite Aruko"), passed away from pneumonia at his home on Thursday. He was 83.
Born in Tokyo in 1933 and a graduate of Waseda University, Ei began his career as a broadcast scriptwriter before teaming up with jazz pianist and “Sukiyaki” composer Hachidai Nakamura to form the Hachi-Roku songwriting duo. Nakamura passed away in 1992.
"Ei reinvented Japanese songwriting and was largely responsible for the creation of a new genre of kayōkyoku (traditional Japanese pop)," says Michael Furmanovsky, a professor of Japanese popular culture at Ryukoku University. "His simple but profound phrases eschewed the flowery language that was considered the default for a song of loneliness and loss. Instead he used the everyday language and expressions of the baby boom generation to literally craft the Showa dream in song."