Aloha Everyone,
This morning J.J. and I caught the NHK World News focus on late Rokusuke Ei, a Japanese lyricist, composer, author, essayist, and television personality. What we found fascinating was Ei traveled over 300 days every year from northern to southern Japan. Usually traveling independently, Ei maintained handwritten notebooks of his experiences which he incorporated into his songs, essays and other works.
A graduate from the prestigious Waseda University, Ei helped establish the post war mass culture of Japan. Some credit Ei for changing the concept of culture. He was a humanist.
Among Ei's works which achieved international fame is the lyrics to the song "Ue o Muite ArukÅ", known outside of Japan as "Sukiyaki". It was sang by Kyu Sakamoto.
Son of a Buddhist priest, Ei died on July 7, 2016 at the age of 83.
Aloha -- Cathi