Sad News, Japanese Commissioner Ryuichi Sakamoto Dies

Ryuichi Sakamoto (Instagram @skmtgram)

JAKARTA - The legendary Japanese composer Ryuichi Sakamoto passed away at the end of March. Label footage, Avex made an official statement via Twitter's social network and asked the public to respect family privacy. Ryuichi Sakamoto died on March 28, 2023, as stated in the article uploaded by Avex recently. “ While undergoing treatment for diagnosed cancer in June 2020, Sakamoto continued to work in his home studio. He lived with music until the end of his life, ” wrote Avex. In the same statement, Avex also said that the funeral process had been held behind closed doors and was only attended by the closest family. Born in Tokyo, Ryuichi Sakamoto was surrounded by culture and music from a young age. His mother works as a designer while his father is an editor. He started studying piano at the age of three and studied at the same school as Yoko Ono. While studying at the Tokyo University of the Arts, Sakamoto met electronic music. Then he launched several solo projects up to 20 albums throughout his career. In 1983, he and David Bowie joined the production of the film Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence. Apart from acting, Sakamoto also made his first scoring for the film which became a hit. In addition, he also collaborated with a number of musicians such as David Myr, Nam June Paik, and Iggy Pop. In 1987, he acted as well as music for Bernardo Bertolucci's film The Last Emperor. The film won nine Oscars including Best Original Score. This meeting continued with Sakamoto's collaboration with the Italian director. They reunited through The Sheltering Sky in 1990. In Japan, Ryuichi Sakamoto also gained popularity. The song he composed for an advertisement entitled Energy Flow became the first instrument song to occupy the music charts. He also continued his career by scoring for various films, such as The Revenant, Rage, Your Face, Minamata, Love After Love, fire, and Exception in 2022. In June 2014, Sakamoto was diagnosed with three-stage throat cancer. A year later he was declared cured and will continue his work with director Yoji Yamada. Ryuichi Sakamoto died at the age of 71.