Ryuichi Sakamoto (坂本 龍一 Sakamoto Ryūichi, born January 17, 1952, Nakano, Tokyo, Japan) is a Japanese musician, composer, producer and actor.

He attended university as Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music, where he earned a B.A. in music composition and an M.A. with special emphasis on both electronic and ethnic music. Sakamoto recorded his first solo album in 1978, which included the songs "Thousand Knives" and "The End of Asia".

Around the same time, Sakamoto joined as a member of the internationally successful Japanese synth-rock/synth J-Pop trio Yellow Magic Orchestra, along with co-founders Haruomi Hosono and Yukihiro Takahashi. The band charted a British top 20 hit with "Computer Game" in the late 1970s (and are also remembered for "Technopolis", "Firecracker" and "Tong Poo"), and were a seminal influence on the acid house and techno movements of the late 1980s and early 1990s. Sakamoto has collaborated with David Sylvian on a number of singles and most of Sylvian's albums. He has also collaborated with, among others, Fennesz, Towa Tei (originally from the group Deee-Lite), Thomas Dolby, Youssou N'Dour, Roddy Frame (frontperson for Aztec Camera), Iggy Pop (originally from The Stooges) and Caetano Veloso.

He appeared in the 1983 Nagisa Oshima film Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence alongside British rock singer David Bowie; he also wrote the film's musical score, and the theme song "Forbidden Colours," sung by Sylvian, became a minor hit. As a long time fan of Virginia Astley's music he produced her 1986 album Hope In A Darkened Heart which included David Sylvian as a guest. He won the Academy Award for his score to the 1987 Bernardo Bertolucci film The Last Emperor. He has also written soundtracks for Bertolucci 's 1993 film The Little Buddha , Pedro Almodovar's 1992 film High Heels, Oliver Stone's 1993 television series Wild Palms, and John Maybury 's 1998 film, .

In 1992, Sakamoto composed the score of the opening ceremony for the Summer Olympic Games in Barcelona, Spain, telecast live to an audience of over a billion viewers.

In 1998 Italian ethnomusicologist Massimo Milano published Ryuichi Sakamoto. Conversazioni, a collection of essays and conversations.

Sakamoto was married to a Japanese pianist and singer Akiko Yano, collaborating with her on some of her recordings. They divorced in 2002.

He is also known as a critic of copyright law, arguing that it is antiquated in the information age.

External links

• The official Ryuichi Sakamoto web site