Ryuichi Sakamoto

was a Japanese musician, composer, music producer, pianist, keyboardist, singer and actor. His nickname is *Kyoju*, which means *Professor* in Japanese.

He pursued a diverse range of styles as a solo artist and as a member of the synth-based band Yellow Magic Orchestra (YMO). With his YMO bandmates Haruomi Hosono and Yukihiro Takahashi, Sakamoto influenced and pioneered a number of electronic music genres.

In 1980, Sakamoto released his second solo album, *B-2 Unit*, which has been referred to as his "edgiest" record which is considered an early example of electro music (electro-funk), Early electro and hip hop artists, such as Afrika Bambaataa "Riot in Lagos" was later included in Playgroup's compilation album *Kings of Electro* (2007), alongside other significant electro compositions, such as Hashim's "Al-Naafyish" (1983). The album is also credited with introducing the influential Roland TR-808 drum machine "in the clubs for the first time" with "a new body music" that "foretold the future" of music according to Mary Anne Hobbs of BBC Radio 6 Music.

According to *Dusted Magazine*, Sakamoto's use of squelching bounce sounds and mechanical beats was later incorporated in early electro and hip hop productions, such as "Message II (Survival)" by Melle Mel and Duke Bootee (1982), "Magic's Wand" (1982) by Whodini and Thomas Dolby, "Electric Kingdom" (1983) by Twilight 22, and *The Album* (1985) by Mantronix. The 1980 release of "Riot in Lagos" was listed by *The Guardian* in 2011 as one of the 50 key important events in the history of dance music, at number six on its list. *Resident Advisor* said the track anticipated the sounds of techno and hip hop music, and that it inspired numerous artists from cities such as Tokyo, New York City and Detroit. Peter Tasker of *Nikkei Asia* said it was influential on techno, hip hop and house music.

One of the tracks on *B-2 Unit*, "Differencia" has, according to *Fact*, "relentless tumbling beats and a stabbing bass synth that foreshadows jungle by nearly a decade". Some tracks on the album also foreshadow genres such as IDM, broken beat, and industrial techno, and the work of producers such as Actress and Oneohtrix Point Never. For several tracks on the album, Sakamoto worked with UK reggae producer Dennis Bovell, incorporating elements of Afrobeat and dub music. According to* Pitchfork*, "*B-2 Unit* still sounds futuristic" with tracks such as "E-3A" looking "ahead to Mouse on Mars’ idyllic ’90s electronica."

Also in 1980, Sakamoto released the single "War Head/Lexington Queen", an experimental synthpop and electro record. His collaboration with Kiyoshiro Imawano, "Ikenai Rouge Magic", also topped the Oricon singles chart. Sakamoto also began a long-standing collaboration with David Sylvian, when he co-wrote and performed on the Japan track "Taking Islands in Africa" in 1980.

In 1981, Sakamoto collaborated with Talking Heads and King Crimson guitarist Adrian Belew and Robin Scott for an album titled *Left-Handed Dream*. According to *The Baffler*, the album combined "slow, simmering, primeval" techno with "sprawling, raw-edged sci-fi gagaku" using traditional Japanese taiko drums. Sakamoto's earlier 1978 songs "Grasshoppers" and "The End of Asia" from *Thousand Knives* also have melodic lines similar to grime or Sinogrime.

Sakamoto began work on his next album *Ongaku Zukan* in 1982, but it didn't release until 1984. During production, he was one of the first musicians to use the Yamaha DX7, the same year the digital synthesizer released in 1983. He initially used the DX7 for Mari Iijima's debut city pop album *Rosé*, released in 1983, before using it for his solo album *Ongaku Zukan*, which eventually released in 1984.

In 1995, Sakamoto released *Smoochy*, described by the *Sound on Sound* website as Sakamoto's "excursion into the land of easy-listening and Latin", followed by the *1996* album, which featured a number of previously released pieces arranged for solo piano, violin, and cello.

In the early 2000s, Sakamoto did extensive work in experimental ambient and glitch music. His works in these genres at the time include collaborations with Fennesz. synthpop, cyberpunk music, ambient house, to acid house and melodic music. Sakamoto was the songwriter and composer for a number of the band's hit songs—including "Yellow Magic (Tong Poo)" (1978), "Technopolis" (1979), "Nice Age" (1980), "Ongaku" (1983), and "You've Got to Help Yourself" (1983)—while playing keyboards for many of their other songs, including international hits such as "Computer Game/Firecracker" (1978) and "Rydeen" (1979). He also sang on several songs, such as "Kimi ni Mune Kyun" (1983). Sakamoto's composition "Technopolis" (1979) was credited as a contribution to the development of techno music.

Sakamoto's internationally successful composition "Behind the Mask" (1978)—a synthpop song in which he sang vocals through a vocoder—was later covered by a number of international artists, including Michael Jackson and Eric Clapton. "Behind the Mask" was one of the first songs to use a gated reverb effect on the snare drum, a technique that later became popular in 1980s pop music.

A version of Sakamoto's 1978 song "Thousand Knives" was released on Yellow Magic Orchestra's 1981 album *BGM*. This version was one of the earliest uses of the Roland TR-808 drum machine, for YMO's live performance of "1000 Knives" in 1980 and their *BGM* album release in 1981.

In 1985, Sakamoto was commissioned to score a dance composition by New York choreographer Molissa Fenley called *Esperanto*. The performance itself debuted at the Joyce Theater, to mixed reviews from Anna Kisselgoff at *The New York Times* which said of Sakamoto's music, that "The sound often resembles a radio shut on and off." The score was subsequently released in Japan by Midi, Inc., and includes contributions from Arto Lindsay and YAS-KAZ. Jen Monroe of *The Baffler* said the sample-based music "manages to be unremittingly gorgeous, aggressive, angular, and lush."

Sakamoto later composed Bernardo Bertolucci's film *The Last Emperor* (1987). The soundtrack was evaluated and won an Academy Award for Original Music Score by a Japanese artist for the first time. In that same year, Sakamoto composed the score to the cult-classic anime film *Royal Space Force: The Wings of Honnêamise*. Oliver Stone's *Wild Palms* (1993); John Maybury's *Love Is the Devil: Study for a Portrait of Francis Bacon* (1998); Brian De Palma's *Snake Eyes* (1998) and *Femme Fatale* (2002); Oshima's *Gohatto* (1999); Jun Ichikawa's (director of the Mitsui ReHouse commercial from 1997 to 1999 starring Chizuru Ikewaki and Mao Inoue) *Tony Takitani* (2005);,

Sakamoto also composed video game music. In 1989, he composed music for one of the first CD-ROM games, *Far East of Eden: Ziria* for the PC Engine. In 1998, he composed the startup sound for Sega's Dreamcast console. In the 2000s, he composed music for the Dreamcast game *LOL: Lack of Love* (2000) and the PlayStation 2 games *Seven Samurai 20XX* (2004) and *Dawn of Mana* (2006).

According to *Resident Advisor*, Sakamoto's classical compositions were influential in helping to define modern classical music.

### Music producer
Sakamoto's production credits represent a prolific career in this role. In 1977, he was the arranger and lead keyboardist for Taeko Ohnuki's city pop album *Sunshower*. In 1983, he produced Mari Iijima's debut city pop album *Rosé*, shortly before Yellow Magic Orchestra disbanded. This was the first album where Sakamoto used a Yamaha DX7, making him one of the digital synthesizer's first users in its year of release, before using it for his solo album *Ongaku Zukan* released the following year.

He was the subject of Elizabeth Lennard's 1985 documentary *Tokyo Melody*, which mixes studio footage and interviews with Sakamoto about his musical philosophy in a nonlinear format, against a backdrop of 1980s Tokyo.

This instrumental song played at the beginning of Japan Football Association-sponsored events, such as Emperor's Cup matches.

## Activist
In late years he has often spoken about the issues of environmental problems, including against nuclear reactors after the Fukushima nuclear disaster, and peace, including against nuclear weapons, in the media.

## Personal life
Sakamoto's first of three marriages occurred in 1972, but ended in divorce in 1974—Sakamoto had a daughter from this relationship. Sakamoto then married popular Japanese pianist and singer Akiko Yano in 1982, following several musical collaborations with her, including touring work with the Yellow Magic Orchestra. Sakamoto's second marriage ended in August 2006, 14 years after a mutual decision to live separately—Yano and Sakamoto raised one daughter, J-pop singer Miu Sakamoto. He has lived with his manager and wife Norika Sora since around 1990 until his death and has two children with her.

On 10 July 2014, Sakamoto released a statement and said that he had been diagnosed with oropharyngeal cancer in late June. He announced that he was taking a break from his work while he went through treatment and recovery.

Sakamoto died as a result of his ongoing battle with rectal cancer on 28 March 28 2023 in Tokyo, which was discovered in 2021. His death was announced on April 2 through his website, after his funeral was held that included family members and close friends.

## Notes
## References
## Further reading
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## Other websites
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* Commmons – Sakamoto's record label
* Raster-Noton 
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