(Tokyo) Ryuichi Sakamoto, world-renowned Japanese composer and actor who composed the soundtrack for Hollywood hits such as The Last Emperor And the Revenantdied at the age of 71.
Japanese record company Avex said in a statement on Sunday that Mr Sakamoto died on March 28 while undergoing treatment for cancer.
Doctors first diagnosed him with throat cancer in 2014. In 2022, he announced he was terminally ill, a year after revealing he had rectal cancer.
Mr. Sakamoto was a pioneer of late 1970s electronic music and founded the Yellow Magic Orchestra with Haruomi Hosono and Yukihiro Takahashi.
Despite his battle with cancer, Mr. Sakamoto released a full album in January, titled 12on the occasion of his 71e anniversary. He then said that the composition had a “small healing effect on my damaged body and soul,” according to the official statement released with the latest album.
He was an internationally recognized musician, winning an Oscar and a Grammy for the film The Last Emperor from 1987.
PHOTO KYODO NEWS VIA ASSOCIATED PRESS ARCHIVES
Ryuichi Sakamoto won an Oscar for the film’s music The Last Emperor from 1987.
Mr. Sakamoto was also an actor, starring in the film Furyowinner of a BAFTA in 1983. He also wrote the music for this film which also starred David Bowie.
He lived in New York for the past few years, although he traveled to Japan regularly.
Born in Tokyo in 1952, Mr. Sakamoto began studying music at the age of 10 and was influenced by Claude Debussy and the Beatles.
Avex’s statement states that despite his illness, when he was feeling relatively well, he continued to work on his music in his studio: “Until his last days, he lived with the music. »
PHOTO DOMENICO STINELLIS, ASSOCIATED PRESS
The statement expressed his gratitude to the doctors who had treated him in the United States and Japan, as well as to all his admirers around the world. He quoted those words Mr. Sakamoto cherished: “Ars longa, vita brevis,” which refers to the longevity of art, no matter how short human life.
Mr. Sakamoto was also an environmental peace activist. He spoke out against nuclear power following the destruction of the Fukushima power plant in March 2011, caused by an earthquake and tsunami.
He participated in rallies and gave speeches in Tokyo, and was among a group of respected Japanese artists, like Nobel Prize-winning novelist Kenzaburo Oe, who were unafraid to take an unpopular stance on issues. policies.
At a rally in July 2012, he warned Japan not to risk people’s lives for electricity because “life is more important than money” and “to be silent after Fukushima is barbaric”.
He also appeared in an advertisement for Nissan’s electric cars, although he admitted to having been criticized for such a commercial action. At home in New York, he gets his electricity from a company that uses renewable energy, he said.
“The way we generate electricity will diversify, with the decline of fossil fuels and nuclear power,” Sakamoto told The Associated Press in a 2012 interview. “People should be able to choose the type of electricity they wish to use. »
The funeral was held with family and close friends, according to Avex’s statement.
Mr. Sakamoto is survived by his daughter Miu Sakamoto, a musician. She posted on her Instagram the years her father lived – from January 17, 1952 to March 28, 2023 – and a photo of a worn, half-broken piano. He also has an ex-wife, singer and songwriter Akiko Yano.