Electronic music pioneer, actor and producer, composer Ryuichi Sakamoto, who died Tuesday March 28 at the age of 71, was one of Japan’s rare politically active celebrities. After the attacks of September 11, 2001, he bemoaned a situation “Created by the hegemonic attitude of the United States”. He had spoken out against the war in Iraq.
In 2007 he founded More Trees, a non-governmental organization for sustainable forest management in Japan, the Philippines and Indonesia. After the March 2011 earthquake, tsunami and nuclear disaster, he took over the musical direction of the Tohoku Youth Orchestra, composed of children affected by the tragedy, and stepped up anti-nuclear activities.
Ukrainian anthem
In 2017 his music illustrated the short film People crossing the Naf River, a tribute to Rohingya refugees, produced by Bangladeshi art historian and photographer Amirul Rajiv. Taken from his album Asynchronousthe composition accompanies the reading of a text, And I dreamed it and the dreamby the Russian poet Arseny Tarkovsky.
In March 2022 he attended the performance of his last symphony in Tokyo, Ima Jikan ga Katamui te (“Today the time is changing”), which ends with the ringing of bells. The concert follows the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Noting that his creation bears similarities to the Ukrainian anthem, he states: “It’s up to you whether the sound of the bells sounds like a requiem or like hope. »
