Ryuichi Sakamoto
Ryuichi Sakamoto (1952–2023) was a Japanese composer, pianist and Yellow Magic Orchestra cofounder whose music lives on through recordings, film scores and sound installations.
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Latest
Ryuichi’s happenings, collected from public sources, plus his backstory and Starbook, where fans write.
Known for
Overview
- Born
- January 17, 1952, Tokyo, Japan
- Died
- March 28, 2023
- Work
- Composer, pianist, producer and sound artist
- Breakout
- Yellow Magic Orchestra, formed in 1978
- Film debut
- Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence (1983), as composer and actor
Mini bio
Learning to listen.
Sakamoto began playing piano as a toddler. His official biography remembers a Tokyo school commute spent counting the sounds of the train. Studies in composition and ethnomusicology led into a career that kept finding music in everyday sounds.
From YMO to cinema.
In 1978 he released Thousand Knives and helped form Yellow Magic Orchestra. The group brought him international attention. In 1983, Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence gave him his first film roles as both composer and actor, opposite David Bowie. The Last Emperor later brought an Oscar for the score he shared with David Byrne and Cong Su.
Room for sound.
His later work moved between piano, electronics and installations. For async, he gathered sounds inside and outside the studio, imagining a soundtrack for a Tarkovsky film that existed only in his mind. His final solo studio album, 12, collected musical sketches made during illness.
A continuing legacy.
Sakamoto died on March 28, 2023. His estate and collaborators continue to share recordings, films and exhibitions. His environmental commitments also ran through his work: he founded more trees and helped establish the Tohoku Youth Orchestra to support young people affected by the 2011 earthquake.
Creditschronological, newest first
Music
- 202612 ConversationsCollaborative album with Alva Noto
- 2024OpusComposer and pianist
- 202312Solo artist and composer
- 2017asyncSolo artist and composer
- 1978Thousand KnivesSolo artist
Film
- 1987The Last EmperorCo-composer with David Byrne and Cong Su; actor as Amakasu
- 1983Merry Christmas, Mr. LawrenceComposer and actor
Awards
- Academy Award, 1988Original Score for The Last Emperor, shared with David Byrne and Cong Su.
- Grammy Award, 1989Best Album of Original Instrumental Background Score Written for a Motion Picture or Television, for The Last Emperor with David Byrne and Cong Su.
- BAFTA, 1984Score for a Film for Merry Christmas Mr Lawrence.
Quotes
Anything can be music.Ryuichi Sakamoto, official biography
On keeping his ears open to unexpected sounds and musical ideas.
Trivia
- As a schoolboy, he counted more than ten different sounds on his morning train journey.
- He and Alva Noto once used contact microphones and mallets to play the surfaces of Philip Johnson’s Glass House.
- His piece Energy Flow grew out of music for a health tonic advertisement.
- The artwork for 12 was created by Lee Ufan.
Find Ryuichi
Follow his estate’s channels for recordings, archive discoveries and exhibitions.
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