Sakamoto still lives in the people who have worked with him to create things.
"I first learned that Sakamoto was an experimental artist when I was in high school and saw the music video for ASA-CHANG & Junray's "Shadowless Man" on YouTube. Sakamoto participated as a vocal material," says sound artist Hosoi Miyu. During university, she went to see the exhibition "Art and Music - In Search of a New Synesthesia," for which Sakamoto served as general advisor, and realized that the songs of Toru Takemitsu and others she had sung in her high school choir were contemporary music.
"I was feeling unsatisfied with the electronic music classes I was attending at Keio SFC, so I sent him some CDs, thinking that if Sakamoto-san said, 'That's interesting, isn't it?' I might be able to continue. I then received an email from him saying, 'That's interesting.' From the recordings I sent him, he introduced me to works by composers like Joji Yuasa and Cathy Berberian. I think he found it interesting because I'm not a huge fan, and we're from a different generation. He even asked me, 'Did you know that Shinjuku used to be rice paddies?' (laughs)"
One of the most memorable works was the 2017 ICC special exhibition "Ryuichi Sakamoto with Takatani Shiro | Installation Music 2 IS YOUR TIME."
This installation, themed around a piano damaged in the Great East Japan Earthquake, was exhibited at the ICC from 2017 to 2018. Ryuichi Sakamoto with Shiro Takatani, "IS YOUR TIME," 2017. Photo: Ryuichi Maruo. Photo courtesy of NTT InterCommunication Center [ICC].
"It's not an exhibition that says, 'Look at something beautiful,' but rather asks, 'This is what I'm thinking right now. What do you think?' I was struck by the fact that the work provides such a space. I also felt that it was a work that could only come into existence because of the time the artist had accumulated and the trust of the viewers."
Hosoi met Sakamoto only once, in 2015, when he was working as an assistant to engineer ZAK. He didn't expect him to remember him, so he exchanged a few quick greetings. Six years later, Hosoi was in charge of the technical production for the Sumida River Dotou Art Festival, including Sakamoto and Takaya's installation "Water State 1." Most recently, he participated as a performer in Takaya's stage production "Tangent," which used the soundtrack from Sakamoto's "12."
"When Sakamoto-san played my music on the radio, he said, 'I'd like to add some sounds to this,' and Takaya-san thought that maybe we could make that happen on stage, which led to us participating in 'Tangent.' In this way, I feel that Sakamoto-san is present in the people who have been working with him for a long time."
