"I Look Up When I Walk..."

I along with the rest of the world have been greatly saddened by the events unfolding in Japan. Contemplating the untold suffering has seemed at times unbearable and utterly incomprehensible, and yet everyday come new reports that the Japanese people in their typically stoic way are seeking to endure and to shore up their ravaged communities and deal with the death, loss and destruction in the only way that they know... with perseverance and determination to recover.

As the governments of many nations including my own send desperately needed aid and supplies, I realize that governments alone cannot render all the aid needed in such a time of crisis. Therefore, I've given what I can give to the International Red Cross and I've been encouraging everyone else to do the same.

As I've watched the news reports detailing the devastation and human suffering going on a world away from the comforts of my warm and safe home, I've been reminded that the Japanese have always known what to do at such times and its reflected in the words of the song below, "I look up when I walk so the tears won't fall"

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Sukiyaki
Performed by Kyu Sakamoto

(Words by Rokusuke Ei, music by Hachidai Nakamura)Released in Japan as "Ue O Muite Aruko" (I Look Up When I Walk)

U.S. No. 1 - Billboard Top 100, 1963

Phonetic Japanese Lyrics
ue o muite arukou
namida ga kobore naiyouni
omoidasu harunohi
hitoribotchi no yoru

ue o muite arukou
nijinda hosi o kazoete
omoidasu natsunohi
hitoribotchi no yoru

shiawase wa kumo no ueni
shiawase wa sora no ueni

ue o muite arukou
namida ga kobore naiyouni
nakinagara aruku
hitoribotchi no yoru

whistling

omoidasu akinohi
hitoribotchi no yoru

kanashimi wa hosino kageni
kanashimi wa tsukino kageni

ue o muite arukou
namida ga kobore naiyouni
nakinagara aruku
hitoribotchi no yoru

whistling


Literal English Translation
I look up when I walk so the tears won't fall
Remembering those happy spring days
But tonight I'm all alone

I look up when I walk, counting the stars with tearful eyes
Remembering those happy summer days
But tonight I'm all alone

Happiness lies beyond the clouds
Happiness lies above the sky

I look up when I walk so the tears won't fall
Though my heart is filled with sorrow
For tonight I'm all alone

whistling

Remembering those happy autumn days
But tonight I'm all alone

Sadness hides in the shadow of the stars
Sadness lurks in the shadow of the moon

I look up when I walk so the tears won't fall
Though my heart is filled with sorrow
For tonight I'm all alone

whistling

*******

"Fear Eats the Soul"