The last full moon belonging to Ryuichi Sakamoto
And so it fell
"Professor" Ryuichi Sakamoto still left.
After another "symbiosis with cancer" for 3 years, the 71-year-old Japanese musician died on March 28 in a hospital in Tokyo.
In the last moments of his life, he also watched a special concert on the Internet, and on March 27, the Tohoku Youth Orchestra (TYO), a group of 86 young people who had experienced the Great East Japan Earthquake, performed a specially composed piece by him.
After the performance, the professor sent congratulations to the members: "Very exciting! Fantastic, thank you. ”
In an interview with Kyodo News, Ryuichi Sakamoto revealed his current situation: "My energy and physical strength are declining, so that it is difficult to compose music. ”
No one could have predicted that just one day later, the professor would say goodbye to the world in a hurry, leaving endless regrets for music fans around the world.
For nearly a decade, Ryuichi Sakamoto has been battling cancer. He was diagnosed with throat cancer in 2014 and gradually returned to normal life as his condition went into remission over the next six years.
Until 2020, he was diagnosed with cancer again - in June of that year, when Ryuichi Sakamoto was diagnosed with rectal cancer, the cancer had metastasized to both lungs and was declared stage 4 cancer. Doctors told him he would only survive six months without treatment.
It was a very torturous time for the professor, who underwent six surgeries over the next year, removing diseased parts of both lungs, as well as organs such as the liver and large intestine. Since then, he has spent most of his life in the hospital.
Even at such a stage of life, Ryuichi Sakamoto still doesn't want to say goodbye to everyone.
01
The last moments of life
Still bathed in music
In March 2021, after a long hospital recuperation after another major surgery, Ryuichi Sakamoto returned to his new temporary residence.
"At the end of March, when my body was gradually recovering, I accidentally touched the synthesizer. I don't have the consciousness of wanting to make something, I just want to bathe in 'sound'. ”
Ryuichi Sakamoto wrote about his feelings at that time: "It seems to heal the pain of body and mind a little - before that, let alone make sounds, I didn't even have the physical strength to listen to music." ”
After that day, Ryuichi Sakamoto would consciously or unconsciously touch the piano and synthesizer keyboards, record the sketches of these music like a diary, and finally select twelve favorite songs and collect them into the album "12".
These pieces contain many fragments of life from March 10, 2021 to April 4, 2022, and even the sound of "Professor" breathing at that moment, which can intuitively feel his physical and mental changes at that time. The presentation of the ideas of the object, the faint sound of the synthesizer, and the weakness and sorrow of the musician can be heard from the sound of the piano.
"Don't give much, dare to present it." This is his most direct self-assessment of the album.
"In the future, I will continue to keep a 'diary' like this until I am exhausted..." Ryuichi Sakamoto had already accepted his fate, and he had a premonition that the finale was approaching.
In addition, the piano recital broadcast on the global network on December 11 last year, which was the last public performance of Ryuichi Sakamoto to perform in person, and many fans were shocked by the emaciated and pale face of the professor in the performance at that time, and countless people cried.
The concert was pre-recorded in mid-September last year, when his physical strength was completely unable to afford the entire repertoire, so he could only record a few songs a day, and finally edited together for several days in a row to make a relatively complete recital.
02
My best friend passed away in January this year
A musician with great love in his heart
In the seventies and eighties of the last century, the Y.M.O. band formed by Ryuichi Sakamoto, Harutomi Hosono and Yukihiro Takahashi swept the world music scene with electronic music and became a Japanese national music idol with a momentary limelight.
Classic albums such as "Solid State Survivor" laid an important foundation for the future popularity of techno electronic music around the world.
On January 11 this year, another member of Y.M.O. Yukihiro Takahashi passed away. Instead of saying a word to the outside world, Ryuichi Sakamoto posted a gray picture on social networks.
At that time, no one would have imagined that just over 2 months later, the "professor" also left this world following the footsteps of his best friend, and looking back at this scene of silence at that time was really heartbreaking.
After leaving the band, Ryuichi Sakamoto developed his career and became the world's top soundtrack master.
In many classic movies such as "The Last Emperor", "Merry Christmas, Lawrence" and "Shaded Sky", his music can be heard, and he has won many film scoring awards such as Oscars and Golden Globe Awards.
In addition, he is an excellent actor, playing the president of the film association in "The Last Emperor", and in "Merry Christmas, Lawrence", David Bowie left an affectionate kiss on his cheek, which is deeply remembered by fans and music fans.
In recent years, "The Revenant" and "Call Me by Your Name", fans can still hear his recognizable soundtracks. In June this year, the new film "Monster" directed by Hirokazu Kore-eda is about to be released, which may be the last soundtrack legacy left by Ryuichi Sakamoto to the big screen.
Ryuichi Sakamoto is a musician with great love in his heart, and this has not changed after his own illness, and has even become the center of his music.
Chinese music fans remember this scene - at the end of February 2020, in solidarity with the epidemic-hit Wuhan, Ryuichi Sakamoto held an online concert for Chinese audiences.
It was a 30-minute improv show that millions of people watched online. One shot featured cymbals printed "Made in Wuhan, China," and black marimbals used to strike were made from recycled medical rubber.
At the end of the show, he looked directly into the camera and said in Chinese: "Everyone, come on." ”
Those who treat the world so gently hope to be treated gently by fate. After learning the news that the professor is suffering from cancer again, music fans are also cheering for him from the bottom of their hearts.
"I remember watching the professor's documentary "Finale" in the theater the year before last, 'I have to be careful to prevent recurrence, it's shameful to prolong life but not do that.'" I know that the professor is more nostalgic than anyone else, take care. ”
03
9 years of symbiosis with cancer
Recognize life and still love it
"Life is like that, life is inherently risky. In life, disease is something that must exist. ”
Ryuichi Sakamoto was interviewed by the insurance company he insured, and fully reviewed the mental journey when he was "symbiosis" with throat cancer.
"There is definitely no way to eliminate cancer, you can only get used to it when you have cancer, this is life."
Because he can only eat liquid food, he said that this is lucky for the Japanese, because there are many soft and sticky foods such as porridge, yam and miso soup in Washoku, and they are steamed in tea bowls at every meal.
"At that time, my biggest dream was to eat curry pork cutlet rice, and every day I held my mobile phone and waited for my favorite pork cutlet restaurant in Tokyo to send me pictures of pork cutlet rice."
"Because the mouth is too painful, I can't eat particularly sour fruit, and in the end, only watermelon can be eaten." Watermelon is really a thing that can save other people's lives, watermelon-kun, thank you very much. ”
In that experience, Sakamoto's biggest takeaway was that he "really felt that life is limited."
He said that when he was younger, he never thought about it, so he wasted a lot of time. While it's wonderful to live a leisurely life, for those who have realized that there is not much left in life, there is no more time to waste on useless things.
In the 2020 documentary "Finale", he talked about such a topic again.
"People always think that life is a well that does not dry up, but everything is finite. How many charming childhood afternoons, looking back, still make you feel such a deep tenderness. ”
"How many times in your life can you see the full moon rise? About 20 times? But it seems endless. ”
Now, the last full moon belonging to Ryuichi Sakamoto has disappeared into the sky behind the dark clouds.
Goodbye, Professor.
Text, Editor/Cardi C
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