“From up on Poppy Hill” (2011), 1 hour 31 minutes, by director GorÅ Miyazaki - We will view and discuss it on Wednesday, May 17, from noon to 4, in the Tateuchi Community Room.
Yokohama, 1963. Japan is picking itself up from the devastation of World War II and preparing to host the Olympics. The mood is one of both optimism and conflict as the young generation struggles to throw off the shackles of a troubled past. Against this backdrop of hope and change, a friendship begins to blossom between high school students Umi and Shun—but a buried secret from their past emerges to cast a shadow on the future and pull them apart.
The film brings back Kyu Sakamoto's 1960s song 'Ue o Muite Arukou' - in Anglophone countries, it is best known under the alternative title "Sukiyaki", a term with no relevance to the song's lyrics, as sukiyaki is a Japanese dish of cooked beef.
The song reached the top of the Billboard Hot 100 charts in the United States in 1963, one of the few non-Indo-European languages' songs to have done so. Below video-trailer are words in Romaji and English translation, (curtesy of Anime Lyrics), so you can sing along:
| Original / Romaji Lyrics | English Translation |
|---|---|
| Ue wo muite arukou Namida ga koborenai you ni Omoidasu haru no hi Hitoribocchi no yoru | I face up as I walk So it's like my tears don't fall I remember a Spring day A night of loneliness |
| Ue wo muite arukou Nijinda hoshi wo kazoete Omoidasu natsu no hi Hitoribocchi no yoru | I face up as I walk Counting the blurry stars I remember a Summer day A night of loneliness |
| Shiawase wa kumo no ue ni Shiawase wa sora no ue ni | Happiness is above the clouds Happiness is above the sky |
| Ue wo muite arukou Namida ga koborenai you ni Nakinagara aruku Hitoribocchi no yoru | I face up as I walk So it's like my tears don't fall I walk while crying A night of loneliness |
| *whistles* | *Whistling* |
| Omoidasu aki no hi Hitoribocchi no yoru | I remember an Autumn day A night of loneliness |
| Kanashimi wa hoshi no kage ni Kanashimi wa tsuki no kage ni | Sadness is in the shadow of a star Sadness is in the shadow of a moon |
| Ue wo muite arukou Namida ga koborenai you ni Nakinagara aruku Hitoribocchi no yoru Hitoribocchi no yoru | I face up as I walk So it's like my tears don't fall I walk while crying A night of loneliness A night of loneliness |
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| SJG • 4/30/17 - blooming azaleas |
