Japanese electronic music maestro Ryuichi Sakamoto dies

The renowned Japanese composer and producer Ryuichi Sakamoto, admired for his electronic music experimentation, has died aged 71, reports BBC. He won awards - including an Oscar, a Grammy and Bafta - for his work as a solo artist and as a member of the Yellow Magic Orchestra.

Sakamoto had been diagnosed with cancer for a second time in 2021.

His office said he died on Tuesday. He starred in the film Merry Christmas, Mr Lawrence with David Bowie in 1983.

Born in Tokyo in 1952, Sakamoto studied music composition at the Tokyo University of the Arts during the early 1970s. It was during this period that he first began playing as a session musician and working as a writer for other musicians.

Through this work he connected with Haruomi Hosono and Yukihiro Takahashi, with whom he formed the synth-pop group Yellow Magic Orchestra. Together, the trio became massive stars in Japan and a phenomenon abroad.

At around the same time YMO started, Sakamoto began releasing his own solo work, beginning with 1978’s “Thousand Knives of Ryuichi Sakamoto.”