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Sakamoto, 70, said in an online message in
December that the unorthodox performance - broadcast to more
than two dozen nations around the world - came about because he
could no longer complete a regular concert.
"My strength has really fallen, so a normal concert of about an
hour to ninety minutes would be very difficult," he said. "As a
result, I've recorded it song by song and edited it together so
it can be presented as a regular concert - which I believe can
be pleasureable in the normal way. Enjoy."
The concert, which featured a Sakamoto solo on piano for 13 of
the songs, included themes from "The Last Emperor" and "Merry
Christmas Mr. Lawrence," in which he acted alongside David Bowie
in addition to writing the score. It was streamed four times
starting at noon on Dec. 11, with the last coming early on
Monday morning in Japan.
First introduced to the piano as a toddler, Sakamoto studied
ethnomusicology at the Tokyo National University of Fine Arts
and Music, with particular interest in the traditional music of
Japan's Okinawa prefecture, Indian and African musical
traditions. He also described classical musician Claude Debussy
as his hero.
He matured into a keyboard and electronic musician and composer
who became known for film scores, especially Nagisa Oshima's
"Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence" and Bernard Bertolucci's "The
Last Emperor," for which he won an Academy Award.
In 2014 he was diagnosed with throat cancer, which was cured
after years of treatment. But in January 2021 he said he had
been diagnosed with rectal cancer the previous year.
In June 2022, he wrote in an essay that the cancer had spread
despite multiple operations and was now Stage 4.
"I have just turned 70, but how many more times will I be able
to see the full moon?" he wrote. "But even thinking that, since
I have been granted life, I am praying that I will be able to
make music until my last moments, just like my beloved Bach and
Debussy."
(Reporting by Elaine Lies. Editing by Gerry Doyle)
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