“Ars longa, vita brevis.” (Latin for “Art is long, life is short.”) – Hippocrates
At the age of 71, Ryuichi Sakamoto – legendary Japanese composer – passed away on March 28, 2023 after battling cancer for years. The above Hippocrates quote was posted as part of a statement on his website following his passing, showcasing his status and continuing legacy as an icon within electronic pop music and the film industry. As a composer, music producer, and activist, Ryuichi Sakamoto produced music throughout much of his life, continuing through his years-long battle with throat and rectal cancer. After his death, many will continue to remember his work as one of the fathers of modern techno music – having blended Western and Eastern inspirations to revolutionize the field for decades to come. Here, we remember Sakamoto’s life, achievements, and legacy.
Born on January 17, 1952 in Tokyo, Japan, Sakamoto’s journey to discover his passion for music began at the young age of 3 years old when he first started taking piano lessons. After nearly a decade of classical music training, he began composing, with his early inspirations ranging from Claude Debussy (who was influenced by Asian inspirations) to the Beatles. One struggle that Sakamoto has been outspoken about later in life is how difficult it was to be a mixed-race child raised by a Japanese mother and a Korean father in the post-World War II era, when there was significant lasting tension between these two countries.
By the time Sakamoto was in high school, he was quite proficient in classical music. Despite their initial hesitance, Sakamoto’s parents helped him secure a scholarship for him to study at the Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music, where he would study music composition for his B.S. degree. He would later earn a M.S. in electronic and ethnic music from there as well. During his time in the Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music, Sakamoto experimented with synthesizers, developing a passion for electronic music. Additionally, he studied Japanese, Indian, and African music, developing a global inspiration for his later work.
1975 marked his first musical release, with Sakamoto releasing Disappointment-Hateruma with Tsuchitori Toshiyuki. In 1978, he formed the successful electronic pop band Yellow Magic Orchestra (YMO) with Haruomi Hosono and Yukihiro Takahashi. YMO would pioneer the world of technopop and influence the hip hop genre, with popular tracks such as “Computer Game” and “Technopolis”.
The band released 13 albums together and were very popular within the J-pop world and beyond. By the 1980s, YMO was one of the most popular musical groups in Japan, performing to sold-out shows and selling hundreds of thousands of copies of each album. Notably, one of their hit tracks, “Behind the Mask” (which featured the innovative use of a vocoder to adjust vocal sounds), was even covered by internationally recognized figures such as Michael Jackson.
Following the international success of YMO, Sakamoto transitioned into what would become his most well-known part of his career – his work in the film industry. He both starred in and produced the soundtrack for the film Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence, which featured David Bowie. In 1987, Sakamoto produced the musical score for The Last Emperor, which won him an Oscar, Grammy, and Golden Globe, among other awards. Having reached global recognition for his compositions in film, Sakamoto went on to compose music for The Sheltering Sky (1990), The Revenant (2015), and an episode of Black Mirror (2019). Several times in his career, Sakamoto also acted in some of the works he composed music for.
All in all, Sakamoto found great composing success throughout his career, collecting a total of an Oscar, a Grammy, 2 Golden Globes, and a BAFTA award, being involved in more than 100 works. Sakamoto collaborated with the likes of Madonna, and appeared in her 1993 music video for “Rain”. Sakamoto even had the honor of composing work for the 1992 Summer Olympics opening ceremony held in Barcelona.
Outside of his film career, Sakamoto worked on independent album releases as well. He had a total of over 20 solo albums in his lifetime with popular releases such as Sweet Revenge (1994), async (2017), and 12 (2023). The last two of these albums were released after his public acknowledgement of his stage 4 cancer diagnosis in 2014, as he aimed to continue to create music until the end of his life.
Beyond a musician, Sakamoto was also a passionate and impactful social activist. Following 9/11, Sakamoto gathered more than 50 influential voices to write essays in a collection titled “No War”, urging the United States to stop pushing for war following the attacks. Sakamoto was also a vocal protester against nuclear plants after the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster.
In his final years, he worked on the 2017 documentary Ryuichi Sakamoto: Coda which featured a spotlight on his activist work as he was battling cancer. Last year, Sakamoto worked with Ukrainian violinist Illia Bondarenko to compose “Piece for Illia”, a part of the compilation For Ukraine (Volume 2), which was written to support Ukrainians after the Russian invasion.
He was a staunch advocate for environmental conservation throughout his life. A couple of weeks prior to his death, Sakamoto wrote a letter to Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike to oppose the development of a city green space into a stadium. His letter drew national attention to the development of the space, and many see this letter as his final wish.
Following his death, there was an outpouring of support and grief from the music community, as Sakamoto was widely respected throughout his career. This included statements from Alejandro González Iñárritu (director of The Revenant), German musician Carsten Nicolai, and composer Hildur Guðnadóttir. According to a report by the Asahi Shimbun on April 6th, in his final days, Sakamoto watched a live broadcast of the Tohoku Youth Orchestra, which he had helped direct for over 10 years. He leaves behind 4 children, including Miu Sakamoto, who followed her father’s love of music and pursued a career as a J-pop singer.
