This was the number one song on my sister's 8th birthday . I sent her the link today . Thought I'd share here . Kyu died in the JAL crash in August 1985 ( I moved to Japan the following month ) . The crash is the deadliest single aircraft accident in aviation history . 520 died . Kyu means 9 in Japanese . He was the youngest of 9 kids in his family . hence Kyu was his nickname . Leave it to record execs to re-name the song Sukiyaki . It has nothing to do with food hehe...