Ryuichi Sakamoto’s Autobiography to Include Diary Entries from Last 2 Years of his Life

Ryuichi Sakamoto in March 2020
15:43 JST, June 19, 2023
A new autobiography of Ryuichi Sakamoto, who died in March at the age of 71, will include entries from the diary that he kept sporadically over the last two years or so of his life.
“Boku wa Ato Nankai Mangetsu o Mirudaro” (“How many more times will I watch the full moon rise?”) will be released by Shinchosha on Wednesday. Sakamoto wrote about his thoughts on life and death, as well as music, in the approximately 30 entries in the diary, which were either handwritten or saved on his personal computer and smartphone.
The musician’s family printed out the entries and gave them to editor Masafumi Suzuki, 74, who interviewed Sakamoto for the autobiography. The first entry was written on Jan. 31, 2021, shortly after Sakamoto underwent an operation for rectal cancer. The last was on March 26 this year, two days before his death.

In the diary entry on May 12, 2021, Sakamoto wrote: “In the old days, when someone was born, people around them would laugh. And when someone died, people around them would cry. In the future, life and existence will viewed even more lightly. Life will become even more an object for manipulation. To die without seeing the world in such a state is something to be happy about.”
Yukihiro Takahashi, one of Sakamoto’s fellow members of the Yellow Magic Orchestra, died at 70 on Jan. 11 this year. About a month later, Sakamoto wrote in the diary: “Watched Yukihiro on NHK on video. / Heck, ‘Rydeen’ sounds like sad music!”
The diary entries take various forms. Some are just a series of separate words, while other entries have multiple sentences. In addition to subjects like life and death and how he felt listening to Mozart, the diary also contains many elements typical of a musician, such as likening the movements of clouds to music.
The afterword of the autobiography contains a detailed description of Sakamoto’s final days, which Suzuki heard from his family.
Sakamoto developed pneumonia in January this year, and he started regularly using an oxygen tube in February. On March 19, he was taken to the hospital with breathing difficulties, and on March 25, he started receiving palliative care at his own request.
Sakamoto shook hands with his doctors and thanked them. He passed away at 4:32 a.m. on March 28.
“I’d like to leave [the diary] to readers’ interpretations,” Suzuki said of the diary.
"Society" POPULAR ARTICLE
-
Earthquake Hits with Epicenter in Central Tokyo; No Tsunami Warning
-
Princess Aiko Delivers First Address During Official Duty; Daughter of Emperor and Empress Speaks at Opening of International Medical Conference
-
Suspicious Plastic Bottle Containing Black Liquid Found on Tokaido Shinkansen Train; Police Working to Identify Contents
-
Tokyo Experiences Temperatures Exceeding 30 C for 1st Time This Year; Other Parts of Japan also See Soaring Temperatures
-
2025 Expo Osaka: Expo Fails to Achieve Pledge of Line-Free Event; Smartphone Data Shows Particular Crowding at East Gate
JN ACCESS RANKING
-
Core Inflation in Japan’s Capital Sharply Accelerates in April
-
U.S. Holds Fire Over Yen Exchange Rate Targets; Bessent Said to Understand Negative Impact on Markets
-
Rents Mark 30-Year-High Rate of Rise; Decrease in Disposable Income May Dampen Personal Consumption
-
Japanese Govt Mulls Raising Number of Cars to be Imported Under Simplified Screen System in U.S. Tariff Negotiations
-
Japan Must Boost Its ‘Indispensability,’ Urges JETRO Chair; Convince United States That Cooperation Will Be Beneficial