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Ryuichi Sakamoto, the world famous Japanese musician and actor who composed Hollywood hits such as The Last Emperor and The Revenant, has died. He is 71 years old.
Japanese record company Avex said in a statement on Sunday that Sakamoto died on March 28 while undergoing treatment for cancer.
He was first diagnosed with throat cancer in 2014. In 2022, he revealed that he had terminal cancer, a year after he revealed that he had rectal cancer.
Sakamoto was a pioneer of electronic music in the late 1970s and founded the Yellow Magic Orchestra, also known as YMO, with Haruomi Hosono and Yukihiro Takahashi. Takahashi died in January.
Despite his battle with cancer, Sakamoto released a full-length album 12 on his 71st birthday in January, said that composing had “a small healing effect on my broken body and soul,” according to an official statement released with his latest album.
Sakamoto is a world-class musician, winning an Oscar and a Grammy for the 1987 film The Last Emperor. He is also an actor, starring in the BAFTA-winning 1983 film Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence.
He mostly lived in New York in recent years, although he often visited Japan.
‘Until his last day, he lived with music’
Born in Tokyo in 1952, Sakamoto began studying music at the age of 10 and was influenced by Debussy and the Beatles.
A statement from Avex said that despite his illness, when he feels well, he continues to work on music in his home studio. “Until his last day, he lived with music,” he said.
The statement expressed gratitude to the doctors who treated him in the US and Japan, as well as to all his fans around the world. It refers to Sakamoto’s favorite phrase: “Ars longa, vita brevis,” which refers to the longevity of art, even as the lifespan of humans is short.
Sakamoto also left his mark as a pacifist and environmental activist. He spoke out against nuclear power after the March 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster caused by an earthquake and tsunami.
He participated in rallies and speeches in Tokyo, and belonged to a group of respected Japanese artists, such as Nobel laureate novelist Kenzaburo Oe, who were not afraid to take unpopular stances on political issues.
WATCH | Sakamoto did the theme of Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence:
At a July 2012 rally, he went on stage and read a note on his iPhone, warning Japan not to risk people’s lives for electricity.
“Life is more important than money,” he said in Japanese, then added in English, “Stay silent after barbaric Fukushima.”
He also appeared in an ad for Nissan’s electric car, although he admits he got bashed for being commercial. At his home in New York, he gets his electricity from a company that relies on renewable energy, he said.
“The way we make electricity will diversify, with fossil fuels and nuclear power declining,” Sakamoto told The Associated Press in an interview in 2012. “People should be able to choose the type of electricity they want to use.”
Funeral services have been held with family and close friends, Avex said.
Sakamoto is survived by his daughter Miu Sakamoto, a musician. He posted on his Instagram the years of his father’s life – from January 17, 1952, to March 28, 2023 – and a photo of a broken and half-broken piano. He separated from his ex-wife, singer and composer Akiko Yano.
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