Akira Sakata

Akira Sakata is one of those guys who makes you rethink what a jazz musician is supposed to look like. Born in Kure, Hiroshima in 1945 — a city that carries its own heavy history — he went and studied at Hiroshima University, which is the kind of background you'd expect on a poet or a professor, not someone who throws themselves headfirst into free jazz like a man possessed. And that's exactly the thing about him: the intellect is clearly there, but the moment he picks up the clarinet it goes straight out the window in the best possible way. No polished cocktail-bar swing, no playing it safe — just raw, physical, almost confrontational sound-making. He writes, he acts, he plays piano too, yet none of it feels like a side hustle. Every discipline seems to feed the same restless, searching energy. At this point in his career he's well into his seventies and somehow sounds more urgent than players half his age. That kind of staying power isn't discipline; it's obsession, and honestly, I'm here for all of it.

Akira Sakata is a Japanese jazz musician, clarinetist, pianist, actor, and author born on February 21, 1945, in Kure, Hiroshima Prefecture. He graduated from Hiroshima University and has built a multifaceted career spanning music, writing, and acting. Known for his intensely physical approach to jazz performance, he has remained active across several creative disciplines throughout his career.

Name (English)

Akira Sakata

Name (Japanese)

坂田明

Reading

さかた あきら

Born

February 21, 1945 (age 81)

Zodiac / Chinese zodiac

Pisces / Rooster (酉)

Origin

Kure, Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan

Occupation

Actor / Clarinetist / Pianist / Jazz Musician / Author

University

Hiroshima University

Motto

Private

• Official sitehttp://www.akira-sakata.com/english/about/about.html
• Wikipedia (Japanese)https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%9D%82%E7%94%B0%E6%98%8E

Tags

• From Hiroshima Prefecture
• Actor
• Clarinetist
• Pianist

Last updated

2026-06-02

Facts are limited to publicly available information up to 2024; non-public or unconfirmed items are omitted. English text is machine-assisted (facts translated by Sonnet, "My Take" written by Opus 4.8). The Japanese page is the source of record.