Autobiography of Ryuichi Sakamoto gets official English translation release

Ryuichi Sakamoto's autobiography Music Sets You Free will be published in English by HarperCollins on September 22, translated by Sam Bett.

The book was a bestseller in Japan and traces Sakamoto's life as a musical journey, illustrated with candid photos, from his childhood encounter with a piano through his final years.

Originally released in 2009 under the title Ongaku wa Jiyū ni Suru (音楽は自由にする), It lands more than three years after Sakamoto's death from cancer in March 2023 at age 71.

The memoir follows Sakamoto's musical path from his first encounter with a piano to the 1978 formation of Yellow Magic Orchestra, whose track ‘Riot in Lagos’ is often cited as a forerunner of electro.

It moves through his role opposite David Bowie in Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence and his Oscar win for scoring The Last Emperor in 1987.

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The book also covers his collaborations with David Byrne, Iggy Pop, and Brian Wilson, an appearance in a Madonna music video, and modelling work for Gap.

Later chapters are said to address Sakamoto's environmental activism, including his protests against nuclear power after the 2011 Fukushima disaster and a trip to Greenland where he witnessed glacial melt firsthand.

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He restored a piano damaged by the 2011 tsunami and used its altered tone on his 2017 album async, made while recovering from throat cancer.

Sakamoto remained active until his final days; weeks before his death, his team revealed he had privately compiled a 33-track playlist for his own funeral, moving from Bach and Debussy to Ennio Morricone and, finally, Laurel Halo's ‘Breath’.

The memoir is described as one of “a visionary whose life and work embodied the aphorism Ars Longa, Vita Brevis (‘Art is long, life is short)”.

Pre-order here.