Renowned Composer Ryuichi Sakamoto Passes Away at 71
Photo from official Twitter account
Ryuichi Sakamoto—keyboardist for electronic band Yellow Magic Orchestra (YMO), actor and award-winning composer behind 1987’s The Last Emperor, for which he won both an Oscar and Grammy—has passed away. He revealed back in June 2022 that he was battling stage IV cancer, and ultimately passed at the age of 71.
— ryuichi sakamoto (@ryuichisakamoto) April 2, 2023
Heavily involved in issues dealing with peace and the environment—including the anti-nuclear power movement following the 2011 Fukishima nuclear disaster—Sakamoto said that experiences such as the student demonstrations in which he participated in the ’60s were “at the core” of who he was. He founded the heavily influential YMO in 1978 with Haruomi Hosono and Yukihiro Takahashi, the latter having sadly passed away in January.
Sakamoto scored over 30 films throughout his career, such as Nagisa Oshima’s 1983 war film Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence, which he also acted in as the commander of a prison camp. Beyond his major contributions to the world of music and film, Sakamoto also contributed to video games and anime over the years, including the Appleseed anime and Gainax’s Royal Space Force – The Wings of Honnêamise.
Our thoughts go out to the family, friends and colleagues of Ryuichi Sakamoto, who left an indelible mark on music and everything else in which he was involved.
Source: Official Twitter, The Mainichi
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Joseph Luster is the Games and Web editor at Otaku USA Magazine. You can read his comics at subhumanzoids. Follow him on Twitter @Moldilox.
