Composer and musician Ryuichi Sakamoto.
“Ryuichi Sakamoto, a world-renowned Japanese musician and actor who composed for Hollywood hits such as ‘The Last Emperor’ and ‘The Revenant,’ has died. He was 71,” write Yuri Kageyama and Mari Yamaguchi in Sunday’s (4/2) Associated Press. “Japan’s recording company Avex said in a statement Sunday that Sakamoto died on March 28 while undergoing treatment for cancer…. Sakamoto was a pioneer of the electronics music of the late 1970s and founded the Yellow Magic Orchestra, also known as YMO, with Haruomi Hosono and Yukihiro Takahashi…. Sakamoto released a full-length album on his 71st birthday in January, stating that composing had a ‘small healing effect on my damaged body and soul’ … Born in Tokyo in 1952, Sakamoto started studying music at the age of 10 and was influenced by Debussy and the Beatles.” Sakamoto appeared as an actor in the 1983 film “Mr. Christmas, Mr. Lawrence,” and his synth-heavy score for the film was a major hit; Sakamoto later wrote vocal, piano, and orchestral versions of the score. In the more recent years, he composed a symphony and an opera. “Sakamoto also left his mark as a pacifist and environmental activist … Sakamoto is survived by his daughter Miu Sakamoto, a musician.”
