Ryuichi Sakamoto

Music Jul 30, 2020

Musician Marihiko Hara delivers 'Passion' project drawing on the sacred and unfamiliar

by Russell Thomas

Marihiko Hara creates a sense of coexistence with the piano and electronic sounds on his new album, “Passion.”

Music May 1, 2019

'Pacific Breeze' collates the slick sound of Japanese city pop

by James Hadfield

Long overlooked by international labels, Japan's rich musical history has been undergoing thorough excavation over the past few years. Some of the most satisfying archival releases to date have come from Light in the Attic, the U.S. label behind last year's Haruomi Hosono reissues ...

Music Nov 22, 2018

Yellow Magic Orchestra go big and go home

by Irma Nunez

Yellow Magic Orchestra made its 1980 debut on the legendary American dance show “Soul Train” performing a cover of “Tighten Up” by Archie Bell & the Drells, two years after the November 1978 release of the trio’s eponymous first album Dressed in logoed button-downs with ...

Books / Reviews Dec 16, 2017

Paul Roquet's 'Ambient Media' analyzes the importance of experiential atmosphere in society

by Chelsea Szendi Schieder

University of Minnesota Press"Reading the air" (judging the atmosphere of a situation) is considered a crucial social skill in Japan. Paul Roquet's dense work on ambient media invites the reader to analyze the air of the modern city and its media in a new ...

Film | Wide Angle Oct 26, 2017

Getting close to Ryuichi Sakamoto

by Kaori Shoji

Stephen Nomura Schible refrains from saying whether he and musician Ryuichi Sakamoto are friends, or even close, despite having filmed a documentary about him. "When I'm in the U.S., everyone refers to him by his first name, but in my mind and when I'm in ...

Music / CD Reviews | LISTENING POST Apr 26, 2017

Ryuichi Sakamoto resists the prettier path on 'async' and comes out stronger

by James Hadfield

In the liner notes for "async," his first solo album in eight years, Ryuichi Sakamoto lists some of the strategies he employed during the recording process: capturing elusive melodies at early-morning synthesizer sessions, compiling field recordings of rain and ruins, rearranging Bach chorales until ...

Music Mar 31, 2016

Ryuichi Sakamoto offers his thoughts on politics, Japan and how his music will change 'post-cancer'

by James Hadfield

"The Professor" is back in town. Last weekend, Ryuichi Sakamoto took the stage at Tokyo Opera City for the debut concert of the Tohoku Youth Orchestra, a 105-strong ensemble of young musicians from Iwate, Miyagi and Fukushima prefectures, which counts him as its musical ...

Art Feb 5, 2015

Message trumps the medium at JMAF

by Mike Sunda

When Canadian philosopher Marshall McLuhan coined the phrase "The medium is the message" in the mid-1960s, the ensuing dialogue on media theory encouraged an approach that persists to the present day: to examine new types of technology through the societal and cultural changes that ...

Art Jul 17, 2014

Ryuichi Sakamoto delves into cities and nature at Sapporo International Art Festival

by Cameron Allan Mckean

Sapporo is generally known for three things: snow, ramen and beer. These things, and festivals such as the Snow Festival or City Jazz, are what draw more than 14 million tourists to the city every year. However, as the production of real materials increasingly moves ...

National Jul 10, 2014

Composer Sakamoto has cancer, cancels all engagements

by Tomohiro Osaki

Musician Ryuichi Sakamoto announces that he has throat cancer and is canceling all engagements to focus on battling the disease.