Sakamoto Ryuichi has passed away at the age of 71 due to stage 4 cancer

Musician Sakamoto Ryuichi , known worldwide for songs, passed away on March 28 at the age of 71 due to cancer. The official Twitter of the project “commmons”, which was launched mainly by Mr. Sakamoto, reported the news on April 2nd.

In 1983, Sakamoto became the first Japanese to win the BAFTA Award for Music Score for the film “Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence” directed by Oshima Nagisa. He was also in charge of the music for the movie “The Last Emperor” released in 1987.

In July 2014, he underwent medical treatment for oropharyngeal cancer while continuing his own music activities with the launch of “commmons”. In January 2021, when he was thought to be in remission after more than 6 years, rectal cancer was newly discovered, and he commented, “I was very disappointed,” and said, “From now on, I will live with cancer. I want to make music a little more, so I would appreciate it if you could watch over me.”

The “commmons” official account said, “On days when I was feeling well, I continued my creative activities in my home studio, spending days with music until the very end”.

At the end, he quoted the ancient proverb “Ars longa, vita brevis (art is long, life is short)” as “a passage that Sakamoto-san liked” and replaced it with the words of the deceased.

Sakamoto becomes the second member of the groundbreaking music trio, Yellow Magic Orchestra (YMO) to pass away in 2023. Takahashi Yukihiro passed away on January 14th. Hosono Haruomi is the final surviving member of the group.

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— commmons (@commmons) April 2, 2023

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