Ryuichi Sakamoto

Honestly, "Professor" might be the most fitting nickname anyone's ever earned. Sakamoto was that rare guy who could invent the synth-pop future with Yellow Magic Orchestra one decade, then turn around and make the whole planet cry with the pianos of Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence and The Last Emperor — the first Japanese composer to win the Academy Award for Best Original Score, by the way. What gets me is the range: he had this effortless cool and a relentless curiosity, always chasing the next sound. Late in life, battling illness, he started treating rain, traffic, and ambient noise as music itself, and somehow it felt more intimate than ever. When he passed in 2023, the tributes poured in worldwide. He left, but the sound just keeps playing.

Ryuichi Sakamoto (January 17, 1952 – March 28, 2023) was a Japanese composer, pianist, and music producer born in Nakano, Tokyo. He co-founded the electronic group Yellow Magic Orchestra in 1978 and launched a parallel solo career that spanned over four decades. He became the first Japanese composer to win the Academy Award for Best Original Score, receiving the honor in 1988 for The Last Emperor alongside BAFTA and Golden Globe wins for the same film. He continued composing and recording until his death from cancer at the age of 71.

Name (English)

Ryuichi Sakamoto

Name (Japanese)

坂本龍一

Reading

さかもとりゅういち

Born

January 17, 1952 – March 28, 2023

Zodiac / Chinese zodiac

Capricorn / Dragon

Origin

Nakano, Tokyo, Japan

Blood type

Private

Height

171 cm

Agency

(Passed away March 28, 2023)

Agency history

commmons / Avex
CAB Inc.

Active years

1978–2023

Occupation

Composer / Pianist / Music Producer

Elementary school

Soshigaya Elementary School, Setagaya

Junior high

Chitose Junior High School, Setagaya

High school

Tokyo Metropolitan Shinjuku High School

University

Tokyo University of the Arts, Faculty of Music, Composition (B.A. and M.A.)

Debut

1978: solo album Thousand Knives; co-founded Yellow Magic Orchestra the same year

Awards & achievements

• 1984 BAFTA Award for Best Original Score (Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence)
• 1988 Academy Award for Best Original Score (The Last Emperor; first Japanese recipient)
• 1988 Golden Globe Award for Best Original Score (The Last Emperor)
• 1989 Grammy Award for Best Score Soundtrack Album (The Last Emperor)
• 1991 Golden Globe Award for Best Original Score (The Sheltering Sky)

Timeline

1. 1978Released solo debut album Thousand Knives and co-founded Yellow Magic Orchestra
2. 1983Composed the score for and appeared in the film Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence
3. 1987Composed the score for the film The Last Emperor
4. 1988Became the first Japanese composer to win the Academy Award for Best Original Score
5. 1999Album Ura BTTB sold over one million copies; 'energy flow' sparked a cultural phenomenon
6. 2006Founded music label commmons
7. 2020Diagnosed with cancer
8. 2023Passed away on March 28 from cancer at the age of 71

Spouse

Akiko Yano (married 1982, divorced 2006), and others

Children

Miu Sakamoto (musician), Neo Sora (film director), and others

Parents

Private

Siblings

Private

Hobbies

• Reading
• Environmental conservation activities

Specialties

• Composition
• Piano performance
• Arrangement
• Music production

Motto

Private

• Official sitehttps://www.sitesakamoto.com/
• Xhttps://twitter.com/ryuichisakamoto
• Wikipedia (Japanese)https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/坂本龍一

Tags

• Ryuichi Sakamoto
• Yellow Magic Orchestra
• Academy Award for Best Original Score
• The Last Emperor
• Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence
• Techno-pop
• From Tokyo
• The Professor

Last updated

2026-06-02

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