Ryuichi Sakamoto 1952-2023: Ars Longa, Vita Brevis

Ryuichi Sakamoto died on March 28 at the age of 71.

This year, all of Japan was shocked by the death of Ryuichi Sakamoto, the exceptional composer nicknamed ‘Kyoju (Professor).’ Sakamoto was a world-renowned musician who also achieved great success in the field of film, including winning an Academy Award for Best Music Composition in 1988.

Together with Hiroyuki Nagashima, a composer and Tokyo University of the Arts professor influenced by Sakamoto, I would like to look back at Ryuichi Sakamoto’s legacy and consider what he means to Japan. 

Professor Nagashima first encountered the music of Sakamoto when he was in junior high school. Nagashima was fascinated by the cutting-edge sounds of YMO (*Japanese electronic music band formed in 1978 by Haruomi Hosono, Yukihiro Takahashi, and Ryuichi Sakamoto) and Sakamoto’s solo album, B-2 Unit. But it was not only the music that fascinated him; he found that Sakamoto was somewhat different from other musicians.

“Sakamoto’s remarks were always intelligent, even in interviews in teenage magazines. When I read them, Sakamoto’s interviews were full of names and terms I had never heard of in school, such as Shuzo Takiguchi (*poet and avant-garde art theorist) and Dadaism (*avant-garde art movement of the 1910s). No musician has ever given me such intellectual stimulation. I think that was the seed that Sakamoto sowed with his music.”

Sakamoto is a rarity among postwar Japanese musicians. He was a composer in the classical vein of composers, such as Toshiro Mayuzumi and Toru Takemitsu, and a media star simultaneously. He pioneered electronic music but also composed Debussy-like compositions and created experimental music with noise and environmental sounds like John Cage.

In 1968, when the ‘Zenkyoto’ (*the 1968–69 Japanese university protests) student movement was spreading in Japan, the demonstrations absorbed Sakamoto, then a high school student. He and his friends allegedly protested the school system, went on strike, and barricaded themselves inside the school. His avant-garde work and statements with theoretical knowledge exuded the sharpness of his upbringing in such turbulent times. 

And even in his old age, he retained his boyish curiosity and fresh sensibility. He continued to pursue new possibilities for sound expression, including a trip to the Arctic Circle to record the environmental sounds of glaciers in his pursuit of sound itself. Never conservative to the end, he actively collaborated with up-and-coming electronica musicians and other young musicians of all genres to continually update himself.

“Ryuichi Sakamoto was a final runner in the lineage of Shuji Terayama (*avant-garde poet, writer, underground theater dramatist, and experimental film/TV director; one of the most prolific and provocative artists to ever emerge in Japan) and other Japanese postwar artists, and he came into the world at a time when Japan was at the height of its vigor,” Professor Nagashima explains. “Sakamoto was the star that the times demanded, and there will be no more stars like him.”

Sakamoto’s cutting-edge music and the facade of new academism were perfectly in sync with the atmosphere of the times. The story of young Sakamoto’s growth, as he strove for global expansion, overlapped with the dreams of Japan - an economic powerhouse at the end of the 20th century.

In a magazine interview, film director Nagisa Oshima once said, “David Bowie, Takeshi Kitano, and Ryuichi Sakamoto were all children of 1968.” While filming Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence, Oshima, Sakamoto, and others discussed that “We, ‘the children of 1968’, have to fight by using the elements of ‘Beauty, Radicalism, and Popularity.’” Thus, Sakamoto was a unique artist who emerged as a combination of all three. 

Professor Nagashima recalls, “Sakamoto was more than an individual; he was a driving force of the times as a ‘Movement named Ryuichi Sakamoto.’” He adds, “Sakamoto’s music will remain. But we should also record Ryuichi Sakamoto’s role in Japan and the rest of the world. In this context, we can understand the significance of Sakamoto’s art and why he launched a social movement.”

As Nagashima explains, it is essential to examine what has been done and what has been achieved in the “Ryuichi Sakamoto Movement.” In the 1980s, when Sakamoto became a media darling, young creators responded to him by transcending the boundaries of their respective fields to create the mode of that era. It was a movement of artists, thinkers, and scientists from various genres, such as music, film, fashion, contemporary thought, art, and technology. Sakamoto was at the center of this movement and was indeed the icon of Japanese culture in the 1980s, as seen by the world.

The “Ryuichi Sakamoto Movement” also expanded globally through film. He worked worldwide as a film soundtrack composer from Asia, and one of his early representative works was the music for Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence, directed by Nagisa Oshima. Working with the internationally known Oshima was a stepping stone for Sakamoto and his international expansion.

The success of Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence led to calls from abroad. An Italian maestro, Bernardo Bertolucci, invited Sakamoto for his film, The Last Emperor. Initially, Sakamoto was offered the role of an actor, but he was suddenly asked to compose the film soundtracks as well. Later in 1988, Sakamoto became the first Japanese Oscar winner for Best Original Score and subsequently earned Bertolucci’s trust.

Bertolucci is an auteur filmmaker. He and Sakamoto had a long and fruitful discussion about what kind of sound the film should have. They were artists and sometimes argued with each other, but they seemed to get along well, and Sakamoto was responsible for the soundtracks of Bertolucci’s Orient trilogy (The Last Emperor, The Sheltering Sky, and Little Buddha).

After moving to the United States, Sakamoto began working on film scores for major Hollywood productions. In recent years, his work on The Revenant also received a Golden Globe nomination in 2016 and was widely acclaimed. Leonardo DiCaprio, who starred in the film, also mentioned, “Sakamoto’s music, it moves you emotionally.”

Professor Nagashima explains, “The Revenant explored the world of experimental film music, and I felt that the times were finally following Sakamoto’s lead.” Even during his battle with cancer, Sakamoto wanted to continue pursuing his sound as a musician until his death, and his life culminated in his last album, 12.

I remember being moved by the stripped-down, bare-bones Sakamoto sound when I listened to async, the album that preceded 12. It was such a pure sound as if he had returned from being a media star to his teenage obsession with Debussy. At the same time, this album felt like his final will and testament. The masterpiece async and his last album, 12, are the essence of Ryuichi Sakamoto himself.

The major French newspaper Libération also carried Sakamoto’s obituary on its front page. The article reads, “The Japanese composer, heir of Debussy, pioneer of electronic music, author of legendary soundtracks and monument of the 80s, died Tuesday at the age of 71.” Libération was founded by Jean-Paul Sartre, who supported ‘May 68’, the student movement in France, in 1968. This is also typical of Sakamoto, a ‘child of 1968’.　

Professor Nagashima was convinced that “Sakamoto was Debussy’s successor” when he read the article. He remarked, “The best words France can send to a musician. I am very happy for Sakamoto.”

Sakamoto first encountered Debussy as a junior high school student at his uncle’s house, where he used to go to listen to records. Young Sakamoto was so absorbed in the music that he felt like a reincarnation of Debussy. As an artist, Sakamoto embodied postwar Japan’s dream of becoming internationally known and respected. Sakamoto’s life journey of growth and adventure was fulfilled by being described as “Debussy’s successor.”

Five days after Sakamoto death, his agency offered words of gratitude to the fans and others who supported Sakamoto through an obituary. The obituary ended with his favorite saying, which also appears in Goethe’s Faust, “Ars longa, vita brevis,” which can be translated as “Skillfulness takes time, but life is short.”

“Kyoju (Professor),” Ryuichi Sakamoto, your music will remain and be played forever. R.I.P.

*This article was translated into English by the author. Original Japanese text can be found in Jomoshinbun newspaper (Published on June 26 and July 31, 2023).