Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence
Playing the Piano is a concept album by Ryuichi Sakamoto which was first released in Japan in 2009. The album is completely instrumental and features Sakamoto covering his earlier work, such as the soundtracks to "Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence" and "The Last Emperor", and also pop songs such as "Thousand Knives," by rearranging them to be played on a single piano. Sakamoto himself refers to the album as a "Self covers" album. In North America it was released as a deluxe double album along with the experimental album "Out of Noise" on 28 September 2010. Sakamoto promoted the album in North America with an 11-date tour in October and November 2010.