Ryuichi Sakamoto Taught Me How to Survive in a Stifling Society
<p>A month or so after the world-renowned composer Ryuichi Sakamoto passed away, an advertisement grabbed my attention on Instagram. It was a photo of him dressed in a tux, his gray hair neatly separated and his piercing eyes staring at the camera behind the tortoiseshell-framed glasses.</p>
<p>Across his chest was written the following Japanese sentence.¹</p>
<blockquote>
<p>息苦しい社会に対しては「引きこもるかアウトローになるか、外国に出るか」が有効な手段だ。</p>
<p>In the face of a stifling society, there are three effective options: shutting yourself in, becoming an outlaw, or moving to a foreign country.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>I couldn’t take my eyes off the photo and eventually took a screenshot before closing the app on my phone. My life seemed suddenly validated by him because I’ve always felt like an outsider, though I’ve lived my whole life in Japan.</p>
<h1>Why Ryuichi Sakamoto Left Japan</h1>
<p>After establishing his reputation in Japan and winning an Academy Award and a Grammy, Sakamoto moved to NY City in 1990 when he was in his late 30s.</p>
<p>According to old interviews, since his teens he’d been determined to live anywhere on the earth as a cosmopolitan. He also claimed that Japan is stifling for creators because overseas culture is imported to this island country as finished packages.²</p>
<p>NYC appealed to him with its cultural richness and openness, which allowed creators to be inspired by other artists amidst the lively art scene.</p>
<p>Nevertheless, Sakamoto never forgot about his home country. When the Great East Japan Earthquake hit, he organized charity events in the battered Tohoku region and raised donations.</p>
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