Ryuichi Sakamoto obit

 

Ryuichi Sakamoto, Oscar-Winning Composer, Dies at 71

Also a recipient of two Golden Globes, a Grammy and a BAFTA, he scored more than 40 films, including 'The Last Emperor,' 'Merry Christmas,' 'Mr. Lawrence' and 'The Revenant.'

He was not on the list.

Ryuichi Sakamoto, the Oscar-winning composer, musician, actor, singer, producer, writer and activist from Japan, has died. He was 71.

Sakamoto died Tuesday of cancer, recording company Avex said Sunday in a statement posted to Twitter that thanks his medical teams in Japan and the U.S. and asks for fans to respect the privacy of his family at this time.

“While undergoing treatment for cancer discovered in June 2020, Sakamoto continued to create works in his home studio whenever his health would allow him to. He lived with music until the very end,” the statement said, noting a private funeral among close family has already taken place.

During a career that saw him score more than 40 films, including The Last Emperor (1987), Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence (1983) and The Revenant (2015), Sakamoto also received two Golden Globes, a Grammy and a BAFTA.

Born in Tokyo in 1952 to a clothes designer mother and literary editor father, Sakamoto was surrounded by music, art and culture from a young age. He began playing the piano at age 3 and attended the same famously liberal and creative preschool as Yoko Ono.

While studying at Tokyo University of the Arts, he first came across electronic music. Already working as a session musician before receiving his master’s degree, Sakamoto became a founding member of the seminal Yellow Magic Orchestra trio in 1978.

Continuing to work on solo projects, he released his B-2 Unit album in 1980; the spaced-out synthesized beats and melodies of the track Riot in Lagos were cited by Kurtis Mantronik and Afrika Bambaataa as influences on their early electro and hip-hop productions. He would go on to release more than 20 solo albums.

Nagisa Oshima’s Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence marked Sakamoto’s debut onscreen as a film composer and won a BAFTA. (He also starred in the British-Japanese production as a wartime prison camp commandant opposite David Bowie.) David Sylvian of British electronic pop pioneers Japan provided vocals for the Forbidden Colors theme song, and Sakamoto would go on to work with him again, one of the numerous collaborations that marked his eclectic career.

Sakamoto played a Japanese Imperial Army officer again in Bernardo Bertolucci‘s The Last Emperor, which, as with Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence, was produced by Jeremy Thomas. The film won nine Oscars, including best picture and director, as well as best original score for Sakamoto alongside David Byrne and Cong Su. It also prevailed in the same three categories at the Globes.

Teaming again with Bertolucci and Thomas on The Sheltering Sky in 1990, Sakamoto won another Globe for that score. In Stephen Nomura Schible’s 2017 documentary Ryuichi Sakamoto: Coda, the composer recalled how Bertolucci had insisted he rewrite a section of the score on the spot while a 40-piece orchestra waited. The pair would reunite on the jury for the 2013 Venice International Film Festival.

In 1992, Sakamoto composed the music for the opening ceremony of the Barcelona Olympics. He would spend the rest of the decade prolifically writing music, working with musicians from around the globe in numerous diverse genres as well as writing scores for Oliver Stone’s ABC miniseries Wild Palms (1993) and Brian de Palma’s Snake Eyes (1998).

In 1999, he improbably topped the Japanese singles charts with a tune from his BTTB album that had been used in a popular energy drink TV commercial. The song, Energy Flow, was the first instrumental to reach No. 1 in Japan.

A longtime political activist, he campaigned against nuclear power and weapons, leading a movement against a uranium and plutonium processing plant in Japan. After the Fukushima meltdowns of 2011, he was a prominent voice in the ensuing anti-nuclear protests.

Sakamoto had a short-lived marriage in his student days, from which a daughter was born, and then married Akiko Yano in 1982. The marriage to Yano, herself an accomplished musician, lasted until they separated in 1992, though they didn’t official divorce until 2006. Their daughter, Miu Sakamoto, became a successful pop singer in Japan.

He began a relationship with his manager Norika Sora in 1990, and they married and had two children.

Diagnosed with Stage 3 throat cancer in June 2014, he was forced to take the first significant break in his career. A little more than a year later, he announced that he had recovered and would work on veteran director Yoji Yamada’s Living With My Mother, which would be Japan’s foreign language entry for the Oscars. That year, he also scored Alejandro González Iñárritu’s The Revenant, receiving Globe, Grammy and BAFTA nominations.

Sakamoto served on the jury at the Berlin Film Festival in 2018 and was awarded Asian Filmmaker of the Year by Busan film festival a few months later.

In summer 2018, it emerged that Sakamoto had found the music so bad at his favorite Japanese restaurant in Manhattan (he had long divided his time between Tokyo and New York) that he contacted the chef and offered to create a playlist. He went on to do the same for a new bar and restaurant the chef opened, without payment or fanfare.

 

Composer

The Staggering Girl: A Choreographic Film

Composer

Short

 

No Man's Land: A Folktale

Composer

CompletedShort

2017

 

Monster

Composer

Post-production

2023

 

Stalingrad - Stimmen aus Ruinen (2023)

Stalingrad - Stimmen aus Ruinen

Composer

TV Movie

2023

 

Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence - Electric Youth Remodel (2022)

Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence - Electric Youth Remodel

Composer

Music Video

2022

 

Ryuichi Sakamoto in Ryuichi Sakamoto: Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence (Playing the Piano 2022) (2022)

Ryuichi Sakamoto: Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence (Playing the Piano 2022)

Composer

Music Video

2022

 

Ryuichi Sakamoto in Ryuichi Sakamoto: Playing the Piano 2022 (2022)

Ryuichi Sakamoto: Playing the Piano 2022

Composer

Video

2022

 

Exception (2022)

Exception

Composer

TV Series

2022

8 episodes

 

Moskau 1941 - Stimmen am Abgrund (2021)

Moskau 1941 - Stimmen am Abgrund

Composer

TV Movie

2021

 

John David Washington in Beckett (2021)

Beckett

Composer (music by)

2021

 

Love After Love (2020)

Love After Love

Composer

2020

 

Ryuichi Sakamoto: Playing the Piano for the Isolated (2020)

Ryuichi Sakamoto: Playing the Piano for the Isolated

Composer

Video

2020

 

Yutaka Matsushige in Today's Nekomura (2020)

Today's Nekomura

Composer

TV Series

2020

4 episodes

 

Johnny Depp and Minami in Minamata (2020)

Minamata

Composer

2020

 

Eva Green and Zélie Boulant in Proxima (2019)

Proxima

Composer

2019

 

Agniyogana (2019)

Agniyogana

Composer

2019

 

Paradise Next (2019)

Paradise Next

Composer

2019

 

Black Mirror (2011)

Black Mirror

Composer

TV Series

2019

1 episode

 

Draw a Line (2019)

Draw a Line

Composer

2019

 

Julianne Moore in The Staggering Girl (2019)

The Staggering Girl

Composer

Short

2019

 

Shiro Takatani - Between Nature and Technology (2019)

Shiro Takatani - Between Nature and Technology

Composer (music)

2019

 

Ryuichi Sakamoto in After the Echo (2019)

After the Echo

Composer

Short

2019

 

Old Thoughts in Tattered Paper (2018)

Old Thoughts in Tattered Paper

Composer

Short

2018

 

My Tyrano: Together, Forever (2018)

My Tyrano: Together, Forever

Composer

2018

 

Ryuichi Sakamoto: Andata (Electric Youth Remix) (2018)

Ryuichi Sakamoto: Andata (Electric Youth Remix)

Composer

Music Video

2018

 

Your Face (2018)

Your Face

Composer

2018

 

Reindeer Herder's Dreams (2018)

Reindeer Herder's Dreams

Composer (music)

Short

2018

 

Ryuichi Sakamoto: async Live at the Park Avenue Armory (2018)

Ryuichi Sakamoto: async Live at the Park Avenue Armory

Composer

2018

 

Loving Lisa (2017)

Loving Lisa

Composer

Short

2017

 

Lamphead (2017)

Lamphead

Composer

Short

2017

 

Ginger Zi (2017)

Ginger Zi

Composer (from the album 'async')

Short

2017

 

Tetragrammaton (The Sin) (2017)

Tetragrammaton (The Sin)

Composer

Short

2017

 

Lee Byung-hun, Park Hae-il, Go Soo, Hee-soon Park, Kim Yoon-seok, and Jo Woo-jin in The Fortress (2017)

The Fortress

Composer

2017

 

Omar Villegas and Alexis Fernandez in Aftermath: the Seeds of Armageddon (2017)

Aftermath: the Seeds of Armageddon

Composer

Short

2017

 

Ryuichi Sakamoto async (2017)

Ryuichi Sakamoto async

Composer

Short

2017

 

Tia Pinson in Andata (2017)

Andata

Composer (music composed by)

Short

2017

 

Fullmoon (2017)

Fullmoon

Composer

Short

2017

 

Wanderer (2017)

Wanderer

Composer

Short

2017

 

Each One Another (2017)

Each One Another

Composer

Short

2017

 

A Gentle Glow (2017)

A Gentle Glow

Composer

Short

2017

 

Day 99 (2017)

Day 99

Composer

Short

2017

 

Beigun ga mottomo osoreta otoko, sono na wa Kamejirô (2017)

Beigun ga mottomo osoreta otoko, sono na wa Kamejirô

Composer

2017

 

Ryuichi Sakamoto, Claudia Fundora, Leonardo Gonzalez, Magdiel Aspillaga, Alina Robert, and Mabel Leyva in Error Code (2017)

Error Code

Composer

Short

2017

 

Haiku on a Plum Tree (2017)

Haiku on a Plum Tree

Composer

2017

 

Star Sand (2017)

Star Sand

Composer

2017

 

Ken Watanabe in Rage (2016)

Rage

Composer

2016

 

Any Other Normal (2016)

Any Other Normal

Composer (as Ryûichi Sakamoto)

2016

 

Alejandro Rivera in Rivera Connect (2016)

Rivera Connect

Composer (original music composed by)

Short

2016

 

Leonardo DiCaprio in The Revenant (2015)

The Revenant

Composer (as Ryûichi Sakamoto)

2015

 

Haha to kuraseba (2015)

Haha to kuraseba

Composer (as Ryûichi Sakamoto)

2015

 

The Veteran Hour (2015)

The Veteran Hour

Composer (as Ryûichi Sakamoto)

Short

2015

 

0930 Hours (2015)

0930 Hours

Composer (as Ryûichi Sakamoto)

Short

2015

 

0300 Hours (2015)

0300 Hours

Composer (as Ryûichi Sakamoto)

Short

2015

 

2200 Hours (2015)

2200 Hours

Composer (as Ryûichi Sakamoto)

Short

2015

 

Ryuichi Sakamoto: Playing the Orchestra 2014 (2014)

Ryuichi Sakamoto: Playing the Orchestra 2014

Composer (music by)

TV Special

2014

 

Metamorphosis (2013)

Metamorphosis

Composer (as Ryûichi Sakamoto)

2013

 

Ana Ana (2013)

Ana Ana

Composer (as Ryûichi Sakamoto, music by)

2013

 

Michael Jackson: Behind the Mask, Version 2 (2013)

Michael Jackson: Behind the Mask, Version 2

Composer (original song)

Music Video

2013

 

Psychedelic Afternoon (2013)

Psychedelic Afternoon

Composer (as Ryûichi Sakamoto, composed by)

Short

2013

 

I Have to Buy New Shoes (2012)

I Have to Buy New Shoes

Composer (as Ryûichi Sakamoto)

2012

 

Light Up Nippon (2012)

Light Up Nippon

Composer (as Ryûichi Sakamoto)

2012

 

Futaba kara tooku hanarete (2012)

Futaba kara tooku hanarete

Composer (as Ryûichi Sakamoto)

2012

 

Musescape (2011)

Musescape

Composer (as Ryûichi Sakamoto)

Short

2011

 

Hara-Kiri: Death of a Samurai (2011)

Hara-Kiri: Death of a Samurai

Composer (as Ryûichi Sakamoto)

2011

 

Space News

Composer (as Ryûichi Sakamoto)

TV Series

2011

 

Women Without Men (2009)

Women Without Men

Composer (as Ryûichi Sakamoto)

2009

 

The Moment After (2009)

The Moment After

Composer (as Ryûichi Sakamoto, original music by)

Short

2009

 

Keira Knightley, Michael Pitt, and Sei Ashina in Silk (2007)

Silk

Composer (as Ryûichi Sakamoto)

2007

 

Orsolya Tóth in Zarin (2005)

Zarin

Composer (as Ryûichi Sakamoto)

Short

2005

 

Hoshi ni natta shônen (2005)

Hoshi ni natta shônen

Composer (as Ryûichi Sakamoto)

2005

 

Tony Takitani (2004)

Tony Takitani

Composer (as Ryûichi Sakamoto)

2004

 

Original Child Bomb (2004)

Original Child Bomb

Composer (as Ryûichi Sakamoto)

2004

 

Appleseed (2004)

Appleseed

Composer (as Ryûichi Sakamoto)

2004

 

Seven Samurai 20XX (2004)

Seven Samurai 20XX

Composer (as Ryûichi Sakamoto)

Video Game

2004

 

Life Is Journey (2003)

Life Is Journey

Composer (as Ryûichi Sakamoto)

2003

 

The Blonds (2003)

The Blonds

Composer (as Ryûichi Sakamoto)

2003

 

Antonio Banderas and Rebecca Romijn in Femme Fatale (2002)

Femme Fatale

Composer (as Ryûichi Sakamoto)

2002

 

Derrida (2002)

Derrida

Composer (as Ryûichi Sakamoto)

2002

 

Alexei to izumi (2002)

Alexei to izumi

Composer (as Ryûichi Sakamoto)

2002

 

Watergate: Heart of Asia (2000)

Watergate: Heart of Asia

Composer

Music Video

2000

 

L.O.L.: Lack of Love (2000)

L.O.L.: Lack of Love

Composer

Video Game

2000

 

Eien no ko (2000)

Eien no ko

Composer (as Ryûichi Sakamoto)

TV Series

2000

 

Taboo (1999)

Taboo

Composer (as Ryûichi Sakamoto)

1999

 

Nicolas Cage in Snake Eyes (1998)

Snake Eyes

Composer (as Ryûichi Sakamoto)

1998

 

Love Is the Devil: Study for a Portrait of Francis Bacon (1998)

Love Is the Devil: Study for a Portrait of Francis Bacon

Composer (music composed by)

1998

 

Anne Heche, Christopher Walken, and Joan Chen in Wild Side (1995)

Wild Side

Composer (as Ryûichi Sakamoto)

1995

 

Ryuichi Sakamoto in Ryuichi Sakamoto Feat. Holly Johnson: Love & Hate (1994)

Ryuichi Sakamoto Feat. Holly Johnson: Love & Hate

Composer

Music Video

1994

 

Little Buddha (1993)

Little Buddha

Composer (music composed by)

1993

 

Rabbit Ears: Peachboy (1993)

Rabbit Ears: Peachboy

Composer (as Ryûichi Sakamoto)

Video

1993

 

Wild Palms (1993)

Wild Palms

Composer (as Ryûichi Sakamoto)

TV Mini Series

1993

5 episodes

 

Ralph Fiennes and Juliette Binoche in Wuthering Heights (1992)

Wuthering Heights

Composer (as Ryûichi Sakamoto)

1992

 

Cerimònia d'inauguració jocs olímpics Barcelona '92 (1992)

Cerimònia d'inauguració jocs olímpics Barcelona '92

Composer (as Ryûichi Sakamoto)

TV Special

1992

 

Tokyo Decadence (1992)

Tokyo Decadence

Composer (as Ryûichi Sakamoto)

1992

 

High Heels (1991)

High Heels

Composer (as Ryûichi Sakamoto)

1991

 

Butoh: Body on the Edge of Crisis (1990)

Butoh: Body on the Edge of Crisis

Composer

1990

 

The Sheltering Sky (1990)

The Sheltering Sky

Composer (as Ryûichi Sakamoto)

1990

 

Natasha Richardson in The Handmaid's Tale (1990)

The Handmaid's Tale

Composer

1990

 

News 23

Composer (as Ryûichi Sakamoto)

TV Series

1989

 

Ryuichi Sakamoto in Ryuichi Sakamoto Feat. Iggy Pop: Risky (1987)

Ryuichi Sakamoto Feat. Iggy Pop: Risky

Composer (as Ryûichi Sakamoto)

Music Video

1987

 

Richard Vuu in The Last Emperor (1987)

The Last Emperor

Composer

1987

 

Wings of Honneamise (1987)

Wings of Honneamise

Composer (as Ryûichi Sakamoto)

1987

 

Chatran and Pû in The Adventures of Milo and Otis (1986)

The Adventures of Milo and Otis

Composer (as Ryûichi Sakamoto)

1986

 

Adelic Penguins (1986)

Adelic Penguins

Composer

Video

1986

 

Ryuichi Sakamoto: A Human Tube (1985)

Ryuichi Sakamoto: A Human Tube

Composer

Music Video

1985

 

Thomas Dolby & Ryuichi Sakamoto: Field Work (1985)

Thomas Dolby & Ryuichi Sakamoto: Field Work

Composer

Music Video

1985

 

Tokyo melody: un film sur Ryuichi Sakamoto (1985)

Tokyo melody: un film sur Ryuichi Sakamoto

Composer (as Ryûichi Sakamoto)

TV Movie

1985

 

Ryuichi Sakamoto in In A Forest of Feathers (1984)

In A Forest of Feathers

Composer

Music Video

1984

 

YMO Propaganda (1984)

YMO Propaganda

Composer (as Ryûichi Sakamoto)

1984

 

Ryuichi Sakamoto and David Sylvian in David Sylvian & Ryuichi Sakamoto: Forbidden Colours (1983)

David Sylvian & Ryuichi Sakamoto: Forbidden Colours

Composer

Music Video

1983

 

Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence (1983)

Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence

Composer (as Ryûichi Sakamoto)

1983

 

It's All Right, My Friend (1983)

It's All Right, My Friend

Composer (as Ryûichi Sakamoto)

1983

 

Ryuichi Sakamoto in David Sylvian & Ryuichi Sakamoto: Bamboo Music (1982)

David Sylvian & Ryuichi Sakamoto: Bamboo Music

Composer

Music Video

1982