Obituary of Ryuichi Sakamoto, from Dai Fujikura.

Of course, we were all expecting 'this day'. But somewhere along the line, I began assuming that 'this day' would probably be some time in the distant future. I kept exchanging e-mails with Sakamoto-san (as I always called him) about his music for this year's Born Creative Festival. I received Sakamoto-san’s last e-mail four days before he passed away.

It was just another email with his usual impromptu response.

Ryuichi Sakamoto has been a hero of mine since I was in middle school, as he was to so many of my peers.

It was a dream come true to develop and enjoy such friendly and intimate correspondence with my hero for over the last fourteen years. We often exchanged emails, messaged, and had dinner together many times. Whenever I was in New York, my last action before flying away was to always drop by Sakamoto-san’s house.

Sakamoto-san was a true genius. His musical talent was beyond exceptional, although I think he wouldn’t admit that himself. The music he created was not only highly artistic in its quality, it was also widely heard. This seems a rare combination in the Western idiom of art and popular music, but Sakamoto-san was able to do it naturally, even though he would modestly tell me, “Oh don’t say it is popular, Dai-kun (as he always called me).”

He was a man with a strong curiosity when it came to novel sounds and new things. His messages and emails were always sent with considerable excitement - “Dai-kun, how did you do that? Do you know that? Have you heard of this?” etc…

This kind of inquisitive, instinctive curiosity is, in a way, the most important aspect of being an artist. As we know, he never lost his creativity and kept composing stunning works while fighting his illness. That is what, to me, makes him a born artist.

I have such admiration for Sakamoto-san's relentless efforts in his creative process. He never wanted to show his hard work to the public (or even to me). He reminded me of James Bond, saving the world while insouciantly sipping on a Martini. I also compose music, so I could always see his enormous hard work towards his numerous and extraordinarily diverse projects.

There are too many memories of my hero to write about here.

"Rest in peace" is what one would normally write. Yet I doubt Sakamoto-san, that creatively impatient man, will ever rest. I’d like to imagine that he is busy asking people in the New Place (Heaven?), “In this new place, this sound doesn’t sound as I expected. Do you know a way to get a bit more resonance here?”

We are still left in this world, fortunate that we can cherish the many works that Sakamoto-san has left us. I'm looking forward to presenting his work at the festival this year as planned.

Being curious, that's what this Born Creative Festival is all about.

Thank you, Sakamoto-san.

Dai Fujikura (translated and edited by Yukiyo Sugiyama and Harry Ross).