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Examples of anti-personnel mines. From left to right: an M14, Valmara 69 (a bounding mine), and VS-50

An anti-tank mine - the L9 Bar Mine

A land mine is an explosive device, concealed under or on the ground and designed to destroy or disable enemy targets as they pass over or near the device. Such devices are typically detonated automatically by way of pressure from the target stepping or driving on it, though other detonation mechanisms may be possible.^[1] The device may cause damage either by a direct blast or by fragments that are thrown by the blast.

The name originates from the ancient practice of military mining, where tunnels were dug under enemy fortifications or troop formations by sappers. These killing tunnels ("mines") were at first collapsed to destroy targets located above, but they were later filled with explosives and detonated in order to cause greater devastation.

Nowadays, in common parlance, land mines generally refer to devices specifically manufactured as anti-personnel or anti-vehicle weapons. Though many types of improvised explosive devices ("IEDs") can technically be classified as land mines, the term land mine is typically reserved for manufactured devices designed to be used by recognized military services, whereas IED is used for makeshift devices assembled by paramilitary or terrorist groups.

The use of land mines is controversial because of their potential as indiscriminate weapons. They can remain dangerous many years after a conflict has ended, harming the economy and citizens of many developing nations. With pressure from a number of campaign groups organised through the International Campaign to Ban Landmines, a global movement to prohibit their use led to the 1997 Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and on their Destruction. Currently, a total of 159 nations are party to the Ottawa treaty.

Use[link]

Land mines were designed for two main uses: to create defensive tactical barriers, channeling attacking forces into predetermined fire zones or slowing an invasion force's progress to allow reinforcements to arrive; and to act as passive area-denial weapons (in order to deny the enemy use of valuable terrain, resources or facilities when active defense of the area is not desirable or possible).

Land mines are currently used in large quantities mostly for this first purpose, thus their widespread use in the demilitarized zones (DMZs) of likely flashpoints such as Cyprus, Afghanistan and Korea.

Land mines continue to kill nearly 20,000 people every year, even decades after the ends of the conflicts for which they were placed.^[2]

History[link]

Premodern development[link]

Some sources report that the 3rd-century Chancellor (China) Zhuge Liang of the Kingdom of Shu in China invented a land mine type device. This claim was made by Jiao Yu in his Huolongjing Quanzhi (Fire-drake Manual in One Complete Volume), his preface written in 1412 AD (although the book was originally published in the mid 14th century),^[3] and that Zhuge had used not only "fire weapons" but land mines in the Battle of Hulugu Valley against the forces of Sima Yi and his son Sima Zhao of the Wei Kingdom.^[4]

However, this claim is dubious, considering that gunpowder warfare did not exist in China until the advent of the flamethrower (Pen Huo Qi) in the 10th century, while the land mine was not seen in China until the late 13th century.^[5]

Explosive land mines[link]

East Asia[link]

The Chinese 'self-tripped trespass land mine' from the Huolongjing, compiled by Jiao Yu and Liu Ji in the mid 14th century.

Explosive land mines were being used in 1277 AD by the Song Dynasty Chinese against an assault of the Mongols, who were besieging a city in southern China. The invention of this detonated "enormous bomb" was credited to one Lou Qianxia of the 13th century.^[6] The famous 14th century Chinese text of the Huolongjing, which was the first to describe hollow cast iron cannonball shells filled with gunpowder,^[7] was also the first to describe the invention of the land mine in greater detail than references found in texts written beforehand.^[6]

This mid 14th century work compiled during the late Yuan Dynasty and early Ming Dynasty (before 1375, when its co-editor Liu Ji died) stated that mines were made of cast iron and were spherical in shape, filled with either 'magic gunpowder', 'poison gunpowder', or 'blinding and burning gunpowder', any one of these compositions being suitable for use.^[8] The wad of the mine was made of hard wood, carrying three different fuses in case of defective connection to the touch hole.^[8]

In those days, the Chinese relied upon command signals and carefully timed calculation of enemy movements into the minefield, since a long fuse had to be ignited by hand from the ambushers in a somewhat far-off location lying in wait.^[9] However, the Huolongjing also describes land mines that were set off by enemy movement, called the 'ground-thunder explosive camp', one of the 'self-trespassing' (zifan) types, as the text says:

These mines are mostly installed at frontier gates and passes. Pieces of bamboo are sawn into sections nine feet in length, all septa in the bamboo being removed, save only the last; and it is then bandaged round with fresh cow-hide tape. Boiling oil is next poured into (the tube) and left there for some time before being removed. The fuse starts from the bottom (of the tube), and (black powder) is compressed into it to form an explosive mine. The gunpowder fills up eight-tenths of the tube, while lead or iron pellets take up the rest of the space; then the open end is sealed with wax. A trench five feet in depth is dug (for the mines to be concealed). The fuse is connected to a firing device which ignites them when disturbed.^[9]

The Huolongjing describes the trigger device used for this as a 'steel wheel', which directed sparks of flame onto the connection of fuses running to the multiple-laid land mines underneath the carefully hidden trap.^[10] However, further description of how this flint device operated was not made until a Chinese text of 1606 AD revealed that a weight drive (common in medieval clockworks) had been used to work the 'steel wheel'.^[10]

The way in which the Chinese land mine trigger worked was a system of two steel wheels rotated by a falling weight, the chord of which was wound around their axle, and when the enemy stepped onto the disguised boards they released the pins that dropped the weights.^[11] In terms of global significance, the first wheellock musket in Europe was sketched by Leonardo da Vinci around 1500 AD, although no use of metal flint for gunpowder weapons were known before that point in Europe.^[10]

Besides the use of steel wheels providing sparks for the fuses, there were other methods used as well, such as the 'underground sky-soaring thunder'.^[12] The Ming Dynasty (1368–1644) text of the Wubei Zhi (Treatise on Armament Technology), written by Mao Yuanyi in 1628, outlined the use of land mines that were triggered by the heat of a slow-burning incandescent material in an underground bowl placed directly above the train of fuses leading to the mines buried 3 ft beneath.^[13] The booby trap of this mine system had a mound where weapons of halberds, pikes, and lances were dug in, meant to entice the enemy to walk up the small mound and claim their stolen prize of war booty.^[12]

When the weapons were removed from the mound, this movement disturbed the bowl beneath them where the butt ends of the staffs were, which in turn ignited the fuses.^[13] According to the Wubei Huolongjing volume of the 17th century, the formula for this slow-burning incandescent material allowed it to burn continuously for 20 to 30 days without going out.^[13] This formula included 1 lb (0.45 kg) of white sandal wood powder, 3 oz (85 g) of iron rust (ferric oxide), 5 oz (140 g) of 'white' charcoal powder (from quicklime), 2 oz (57 g) of willow charcoal powder, 6 oz (170 g) of dried, ground, and powdered red dates, and 3 oz (85 g) of bran.^[13]

The Chinese also employed the use of the naval mine at sea and on the rivers of China and elsewhere in maritime battles.

Europe and the United States[link]

The first land mine in Europe was created by Pedro Navarro (d. 1528), a Spanish soldier, who used it in the settles of the Italian castles, in the beginning of the sixteenth century.

At Augsburg in 1573, a German military engineer by the name of Samuel Zimmermann invented an extremely effective mine known as the fladdermine. It consisted of a fougasse (or later, sometimes a shell fougasse, that is, a fougasse loaded not with stones but with early black powder mortar shells, similar to large black powder hand grenades) activated by a snaphance or flintlock mechanism connected to a tripwire on the surface. Combining the effects of a tripwire activated bounding fragmentation mine with a cluster bomb, it was devastating to massed attackers but required high maintenance due to the susceptibility of black powder to dampness. Consequently it was mainly employed in the defenses of major fortifications, in which role it continued to be used until the 1870s.^[14]

In Europe in the early eighteenth century, improvised land mines or booby traps were constructed in the form of bombs buried in shallow wells in the earth and covered with scrap metal and/or gravel to serve as shrapnel. Known in French as fougasse, the term is sometimes still used in the present day to describe such devices. This technique was used in several European wars of the eighteenth century, the American Revolution, and the American Civil War.

The first modern mechanically fused high explosive anti-personnel land mines were created by Confederate troops of Brigadier General Gabriel J. Rains during the Battle of Yorktown in 1862. As a Captain, Rains had earlier employed explosive booby traps during the Seminole Wars in Florida in 1840.^[15] Both mechanically and electrically fused "land torpedoes" were employed, although by the end of the war mechanical fuses had been found to be generally more reliable. Many of these designs were improvised in the field, especially from explosive shells, but by the end of the war nearly 2,000 standard pattern "Rains mines" had been deployed.

Improved designs of mines were created in Imperial Germany, circa 1912, and were copied and manufactured by all major participants in the First World War. Both sides employed land mines (defensively) and tunnel mines (offensively).^[14] Well before the war was over, the British were manufacturing land mines that contained poison gas instead of explosives. Poison gas mines were manufactured at least until the 1980s in the Soviet Union. The United States was known to have at least experimented with the concept in the 1950s.

Nuclear mines have also been developed, both land and naval varieties. An example is the British Blue Peacock project, while another was the U.S. Medium Atomic Demolition Munition.

Characteristics and functioning[link]

A typical land mine includes the following components:

• firing mechanism or other device (including anti-handling devices)
• detonator or igniter (sets off the booster charge)
• booster charge (may be attached to the fuse, or the igniter, or be part of the main charge)
• main charge (in a container, usually forms the body of the mine)
• casing (contains all of the above parts)

Firing mechanisms and initiating actions[link]

A land mine can be triggered by a number of things including pressure, movement, sound, magnetism and vibration. Anti-personnel mines commonly use the pressure of a person's foot as a trigger, but tripwires are also frequently employed. Most modern anti-vehicle mines use a magnetic trigger to enable it to detonate even if the tires or tracks did not touch it. Advanced mines are able to sense the difference between friendly and enemy types of vehicles by way of a built-in signature catalog. This will theoretically enable friendly forces to use the mined area while denying the enemy access.

Many mines combine the main trigger with a touch or tilt trigger to prevent enemy engineers from defusing it. Land mine designs tend to use as little metal as possible to make searching with a metal detector more difficult; land mines made mostly of plastic have the added advantage of being very inexpensive.

Some types of modern mines are designed to self-destruct, or chemically render themselves inert after a period of weeks or months to reduce the likelihood of civilian casualties at the conflict's end. However, these self-destruct mechanisms are not absolutely reliable, and most land mines laid historically are not equipped in this manner.

Anti-handling devices[link]

Anti-handling devices detonate the mine if someone attempts to lift, shift or disarm it. The intention is to hinder deminers by discouraging any attempts to clear minefields. There is a degree of overlap between the function of a boobytrap and an anti-handling device insofar as some mines have optional fuze pockets into which standard pull or pressure-release boobytrap firing devices can be screwed. Alternatively, some mines may mimic a standard design, but actually be specifically intended to kill deminers e.g. the MC-3 and PMN-3 variants of the PMN mine. Anti-handling devices can be found on both anti-personnel mines and anti-tank mines, either as an integral part of their design or as improvised add-ons. For this reason, the standard render safe procedure for mines is often to destroy them on site without attempting to lift them.

Anti-tank mines[link]

Section of an anti-tank mine. Note the yellow main charge wrapped around a red booster charge, and the secondary fuze well on the side of the mine designed for an anti-handling device

Anti-tank mines were created not long after the invention of the tank in the First World War. At first improvised, purpose-built designs were developed. Set off when a tank passes, they attack the tank at one of its weaker areas — the tracks. They are designed to immobilize or destroy vehicles and their occupants. In U.S. military terminology destroying the vehicles is referred to as a catastrophic kill (k-kill) while only disabling its movement is referred to as a mobility kill (m-kill).

Anti-tank mines are typically larger than anti-personnel mines and require more pressure to detonate. The high trigger pressure (normally 100 kg [220 lb.]) prevents them from being set off by infantry or smaller vehicles of lesser importance. More modern anti-tank mines use shaped charges to focus and increase the armor penetration of the explosives.

Anti-personnel mines[link]

Anti-personnel mines are designed to kill or injure enemy combatants as opposed to destroying vehicles. They are often designed to injure rather than kill in order to increase the logistical support (evacuation, medical) burden on the opposing force. Some types of anti-personnel mines can also damage the tracks or wheels of armored vehicles.

Under the Ottawa Treaty, signatory countries undertake not to manufacture, stockpile or use anti-personnel mines. As of 2009, it has been signed/accessioned by 156 countries. Thirty-eight countries, including the People's Republic of China, Russian Federation and the United States, are not party to the Convention.

Warfare[link]

A U.S. Army engineer removing the fuse from a Russian-made mine in order to clear a minefield outside of Fallujah, Iraq

Argentine minefield at Port William, Falkland Islands created in 1982; clearance inhibited by boggy terrain

In military science, minefields are considered a defensive or harassing weapon, used to slow the enemy down, to help deny certain terrain to the enemy, to focus enemy movement into kill zones, or to reduce morale by randomly attacking material and personnel. In some engagements during World War II, anti-tank mines accounted for half of all vehicles disabled.

Since combat engineers with mine-clearing equipment can clear a path through a minefield relatively quickly, mines are usually considered effective only if covered by fire.

The extents of minefields are often marked with warning signs and cloth tape, to prevent friendly troops and non-combatants from entering them. Of course, sometimes terrain can be denied using dummy minefields. Most forces carefully record the location and disposition of their own minefields, because warning signs can be destroyed or removed, and minefields should eventually be cleared. Minefields may also have marked or unmarked safe routes to allow friendly movement through them.

Placing minefields without marking and recording them for later removal is considered a war crime under Protocol II of the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons, which is itself an annex to the Geneva Conventions.

Artillery and aircraft scatterable mines allow minefields to be placed in front of moving formations of enemy units, including the reinforcement of minefields or other obstacles that have been breached by enemy engineers. They can also be used to cover the retreat of forces disengaging from the enemy, or for interdiction of supporting units to isolate front line units from resupply. In most cases these minefields consist of a combination of anti-tank and anti-personnel mines, with the anti-personnel mines making removal of the anti-tank mines more difficult. Mines of this type used by the United States are^{[citation needed]} designed to self-destruct after a preset period of time, reducing the requirement for mine clearing to only those mines whose self-destruct system did not function. Some designs of these scatterable mines require an electrical charge (capacitor or battery) to detonate. After a certain period of time, either the charge dissipates, leaving them effectively inert or the circuitry is designed such that upon reaching a low level, the device is triggered, thus destroying the mine.

Guerrilla warfare[link]

None of the conventional tactics and norms of mine warfare applies when they are employed in a guerrilla role:^{[citation needed]}

• The mines are not used in a defensive role (for specific position or area).
• Mined areas are not marked.
• Mines are usually placed singly and not in groups covering an area.
• Mines are often left unattended (not covered by fire).

One of the aims of terrorism – and to a certain extent of guerrilla warfare – is to spread fear and panic. This can be achieved by a single mine left on a civilian road to be detonated by a civilian target which is clearly quite different from the normal military application.

One example where such tactics were in employed is in the various Southern African conflicts during the 1970s and 1980s^{[citation needed]}, specifically Angola, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa and Zimbabwe.^[16]

Laying mines[link]

Minefield warning on the Golan Heights, still valid more than 40 years after creation of the field by the Syrian army

Minefields may be laid by several means. The preferred, but most labour-intensive, way is to have engineers bury the mines, since this will make the mines practically invisible and reduce the number of mines needed to deny the enemy an area. Mines can be laid by specialized mine-laying vehicles. Mine-scattering shells may be fired by artillery from a distance of several tens of kilometers.

Mines may be dropped from helicopters or airplanes, or ejected from cluster bombs or cruise missiles.

Anti-tank minefields can be scattered with anti-personnel mines to make clearing them manually more time-consuming; and anti-personnel minefields are scattered with anti-tank mines to prevent the use of armored vehicles to clear them quickly. Some anti-tank mine types are also able to be triggered by infantry, giving them a dual purpose even though their main and official intention is to work as anti-tank weapons.

Some minefields are specifically booby-trapped to make clearing them more dangerous. Mixed anti-personnel and anti-tank minefields, anti-personnel mines under anti-tank mines, and fuses separated from mines have all been used for this purpose. Often, single mines are backed by a secondary device, designed to kill or maim personnel tasked with clearing the mine.

Multiple anti-tank mines have been buried in stacks of two or three with the bottom mine fuzed, in order to multiply the penetrating power. Since the mines are buried, the ground directs the energy of the blast in a single direction — through the bottom of the target vehicle or on the track.

Another specific use is to mine an aircraft runway immediately after it has been bombed in order to delay or discourage repair. Some cluster bombs combine these functions. One example is the British JP233 cluster bomb which includes munitions to damage (crater) the runway as well as anti-personnel mines in the same cluster bomb.

Demining[link]

School posters in Karabakh educating children on mines and UXO

British Royal Engineers practice mine clearance

Metal detectors were first used for demining, after their invention by the Polish officer Józef Kosacki.^[17] His invention, known as the Polish mine detector, was used by the Allies alongside mechanical methods, to clear the German mine fields during the Second Battle of El Alamein when 500 units were shipped to Field Marshal Montgomery's Eighth Army.^[18]

The Nazi Germans used captured civilians who were chased across minefields to detonate the explosives. According to Laurence Rees, "Curt von Gottberg, the SS-Obergruppenfuhrer who, during 1943, conducted another huge anti-partisan action called Operation Kottbus on the eastern border of Belorussia, reported that 'approximately two to three thousand local people were blown up in the clearing of the minefields'."^[19]

Whereas the placing and arming of mines is relatively inexpensive and simple, the process of detecting and removing them is typically expensive, slow, and dangerous. This is especially true of irregular warfare where mines were used on an ad hoc basis in unmarked areas. Anti-personnel mines are most difficult to find, due to their small size and the fact that many are made almost entirely of non-metallic materials specifically to escape detection.

Manual clearing remains the most effective technique for clearing mine fields, although hybrid techniques involving the use of animals and robots are being developed. Animals are desirable due to their strong sense of smell, which is more than capable of detecting a land mine.^[20] Animals like rats and dogs can also differentiate between other metal objects and land mines because they can be trained to detect the explosive agent itself.^[21]

Other techniques involve the use of geo-location technologies. A joint team of researchers at the University of New South Wales and Ohio State University is working to develop a system based on multi-sensor integration.^[22]

The laying of land mines has inadvertently lead to a positive development in the Falkland Islands. Mine fields laid near the sea during the Falklands War have become favorite places for penguins, which do not weigh enough to detonate the mines. Therefore, they can breed safely, free of human intrusion. These odd sanctuaries have proven so popular and lucrative for ecotourism that efforts exist to prevent removal of the mines.^[23]

Norwegian NGO Norwegian People's Aid is one organisation involved in the safe removal of land mines.^[24]

Anti-personnel mine ban[link]

Party states to the Ottawa Treaty (in blue)

Countries with high numbers of land mine victims

The use of land mines is controversial because they are indiscriminate weapons, harming soldier and civilian alike. They remain dangerous after the conflict in which they were deployed has ended, killing and injuring civilians and rendering land impassable and unusable for decades. To make matters worse, many factions have not kept accurate records (or any at all) of the exact locations of their minefields, making removal efforts painstakingly slow. These facts pose serious difficulties in many developing nations where the presence of mines hampers resettlement, agriculture, and tourism. The International Campaign to Ban Landmines campaigned successfully to prohibit their use, culminating in the 1997 Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and on their Destruction, known informally as the Ottawa Treaty.

The Ottawa Treaty (Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and on their Destruction) came into force on March 1, 1999. The treaty was the result of the leadership of the Government of Canada working with the International Campaign to Ban Landmines, launched in 1992. The campaign and its leader, Jody Williams, won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1997 for its efforts.

The treaty does not include anti-tank mines, cluster bombs or claymore-type mines operated in command mode and focuses specifically on anti-personnel mines, because these pose the greatest long term (post-conflict) risk to humans and animals since they are typically designed to be triggered by any movement or pressure of only a few kilograms, whereas anti-tank mines require much more weight (or a combination of factors that would exclude humans). Existing stocks must be destroyed within four years of signing the treaty.

Signatories of the Ottawa Treaty agree that they will not use, develop, manufacture, stockpile or trade in anti-personnel land mines. There were originally 122 signatories in 1997; currently^[update], it has been signed by 155 countries and ratified by 153. Another 40 have yet to sign on. The United States is not one of the signatories, based on lacking an exception for the DMZ of Korea.

There is a clause in the treaty, Article 3, which permits countries to retain land mines for use in training or development of countermeasures. 64 countries have taken this option.

As an alternative to an outright ban, 10 countries follow regulations that are contained in a 1996 amendment of Protocol II of the Convention on Conventional Weapons (CCW). The countries are China, Finland, India, Israel, Morocco, Pakistan, South Korea, Sri Lanka, and the United States.

Manufacturers[link]

The ICBL has identified the following countries as manufacturing land mines as of August 2004. None are signatories of the Ottawa Treaty.^[25]

• Burma ^[26] (Myanmar)
• People's Republic of China
• Cuba ^[27]
• India ^[28]
• Iran ^[29]
• Iraq (although production had presumably ceased since the invasion of 2003)^[30]
• Nepal ^[31]
• North Korea ^[32]
• Pakistan ^[33]
• Russian Federation ^[34]
• Singapore ^[35]
• Vietnam ^[36]

Of other states which are thought to have manufactured mines recently:

• Egypt has unofficially stated that production ceased in 1988.^[37]
• South Korea has stated that no mines have been produced since 2000.^[38]
• An official from China stated in September 2003 that production has ceased there, since they have an ample stockpile.^[39]
• In March 2004, a Libyan official stated that the country has never produced anti-personnel mines, but is known to have laid land mines in the 1970s and 1980s.^[40] More recently, during the civil war in March 2011, Gaddafi's forces have sown mines around rebel-controlled areas.^[41]
• A United Nations assessment mission to Peru reported that production of land mines in the country ceased in January 1999. Peru was one of the original signatories and the treaty came into force for them in March 1999.^[42]
• Denmark had officially declared having 6 factories producing land mines in 1995 but production ceased since ratification of the Ottawa treaty.^[43]
• The United States stopped manufacturing land mines in 1997, but has one of the largest stockpiles.^[44]

See also[link]

Mine Protected Vehicle Unexploded ordnance (UXO) Demolition belt Mines List of land mines Anti-handling device ARGES mine Blast resistant mine Flame fougasse Improvised explosive device Intelligent Munitions System Naval mine Smart mine Wooden box mine

Bomb disposal Advanced Bomb Suit Places Land mines in Central America Land mines in Cambodia Land mines in North Africa Uzbek-Tajikistan border minefields Organisations Mine action Mine clearance agencies International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL)

Notes[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Land mine

• Landmines and international humanitarian law, ICRC
• Detector Spots Buried Mines 1943, Popular Science article on the "Polish" mine detector.
• "How Axis Land Mines Work", April 1944 detailed article on types of land mines
• E-Mine Electronic Mine Information Network by United Nations Mine Action Services
• Detecting Land Mines: New Technology, by Paul Grad. Published by Asian Surveying and Mapping
• Ken Rutherford, "Landmines: A Survivor’s Tale" - Journal of Mine Action

Trent Harris (left) with Mel Halbach

Trent Harris is an independent filmmaker based in Salt Lake City, Utah. He wrote and directed the offbeat 1991 comedy Rubin and Ed, in which Crispin Glover and Howard Hesseman wander the desert looking for a suitable place to bury a frozen cat. In 2001 he released The Beaver Trilogy, a compilation film that documents his obsession with a man called Groovin' Gary. The Beaver Trilogy features Sean Penn and Crispin Glover as Groovin' Gary in part two and part three, respectively. He also wrote and directed Plan 10 from Outer Space. Harris has also written two books, The Wild Goose Chronicles and Mondo Utah.

As of fall 2008, he has finished a new feature film, Delightful Water Universe. The film's trailer and synposis are located at *DelightfulWaterUniverse.Com.

External links[link]

• Trent Harris Films, Official Site
• FLING A DING, Regular Video posts from the wanderings of Trent Harris
• Delightful Water Universe, Official Film Site
• Rubin and Ed at the Internet Movie Database
• Plan 10 from Outer Space at the Internet Movie Database
• The Beaver Trilogy at the Internet Movie Database
• Plum TV Telluride Interviews Trent Harris at Sundance

This article about a United States film director is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. v t e

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (January 2012)

David Sylvian
David Sylvian, November 1982
Background information
Birth name	David Alan Batt
Born	(1958-02-23) 23 February 1958 (age 54)
Origin	Beckenham, Kent, England
Genres	New Wave, art rock, ambient, electronic, avant-garde, jazz, alternative rock, classical
Years active	1974–present
Labels	Virgin Records Samadhisound
Associated acts	Japan Nine Horses Robert Fripp Rain Tree Crow
Website	David Sylvian.com

David Sylvian (born David Alan Batt, 23 February 1958) is an English singer-songwriter and musician who came to prominence in the late 1970s as the lead vocalist and main songwriter in the group Japan. His subsequent solo work is described by critic Jason Ankeny^[1] as "a far-ranging and esoteric career that encompassed not only solo projects but also a series of fascinating collaborative efforts." Sylvian's solo work has been influenced by a variety of musical styles and genres, including jazz, avant-garde, ambient, electronic, and progressive rock.

Biography[link]

Early years[link]

Sylvian was born in Beckenham, Kent, the son of a plasterer and a housewife. He was educated at Catford Boys' School, Catford, South East London leaving at 16. As a youth, he listened to glam rock artists such as David Bowie and Roxy Music.^{[citation needed]}

1970s-Early 1980s: Japan[link]

Japan in Toronto, 24 November 1979

The band Japan, whose other members included bassist Mick Karn, guitarist Rob Dean, keyboardist Richard Barbieri and Sylvian's brother Steve Jansen as drummer, began as a group of friends. As youngsters they played music as a means of escape, playing Sylvian's two-chord numbers – sometimes with Karn as the front man, sometimes with Sylvian at the fore.

They christened themselves Japan in 1974, signed a recording contract with Hansa, and became an alternative glam rock outfit in the mould of David Bowie, T.Rex, and The New York Dolls. Over a period of a few years their music became more sophisticated, drawing initially on the art rock stylings of Roxy Music. Their visual image also evolved and the band was tagged with the New Romantic label. Indeed, it could be argued^{[by whom?]} that Japan was at the forefront of the entire New Romantic movement, even though the band never associated itself with it. Noting their distinction from the New Romantics, Sylvian stated: "I don't like to be associated with them. The attitudes are so very different." Of Japan's fashion sense, Sylvian said: "For them [New Romantics], fancy dress is a costume. But ours is a way of life. We look and dress this way every day."^[2]

Japan recorded five studio albums between March 1978 and November 1981. In 1980, the band signed with Virgin Records, where Sylvian remained as a recording artist for the next twenty years. The band suffered from personal and creative clashes, particularly between Sylvian and Karn, with tensions springing from Sylvian's relationship with Yuka Fujii, a photographer, artist and designer, and Karn's former girlfriend.^[3] Fujii quickly became an influential figure in Sylvian's life. She was the first person to introduce Sylvian seriously to jazz, which in turn inspired him to follow musical avenues not otherwise open to him.^{[citation needed]} She also encouraged Sylvian to incorporate spiritual discipline into his daily routine. Throughout his solo career, Fujii maintained a large role in the design of artwork for his albums.^{[citation needed]}

1980s–1990s: Solo career[link]

In 1982, Sylvian released his first solo collaborative effort with Ryuichi Sakamoto, entitled "Bamboo Houses/Bamboo Music". He also worked with Sakamoto on the UK Top 20 song "Forbidden Colours" for the 1983 Nagisa Oshima film Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence. Sakamoto's first contribution to Sylvian's work though was as co-writer of Taking Islands in Africa on the Japan-album 'Gentlemen Take Polaroids (1980).

Sylvian's debut solo album, Brilliant Trees (1984), met with critical acclaim.^{[citation needed]} The album included contributions from Ryuichi Sakamoto, trumpeter Jon Hassell, and former Can bassist Holger Czukay. It featured the UK Top 20 single Red Guitar.

In 1985, Sylvian released an instrumental mini-album Alchemy: An Index of Possibilities, in collaboration with Jansen, Hassell and Czukay, a recording that, when re-released in 2003, included the addition of Sylvian's Steel Cathedrals, the soundtrack to his video release of the same name.

The next release was the two-record set Gone to Earth (1986), which featured one record of atmospheric vocal tracks and a second record consisting of ambient instrumentals. The album contained significant contributions from noted guitarists Bill Nelson of Be-Bop Deluxe and Robert Fripp of King Crimson.

Secrets of the Beehive (1987) made greater use of acoustic instruments and was musically oriented towards sombre, emotive ballads laced with shimmering string arrangements by Ryuichi Sakamoto and Brian Gascoigne. The album yielded one of Sylvian's most well-received songs, "Orpheus", and was later supported by his first solo tour, 1988's 'In Praise of Shamans.'

Never one to conform to commercial expectations, Sylvian then collaborated with Holger Czukay. Plight and Premonition, issued in 1988, and Flux and Mutability, recorded and released the following year, also included contributions from Can members Jaki Liebezeit and Michael Karoli.

Virgin decided to close out the 1980s with the release of Weatherbox, an elaborate boxed-set compilation consisting of Sylvian's four previous solo albums.

In 1990, Sylvian collaborated with artists Russell Mills and Ian Walton on the elaborate multi-media installation using sculpture, sound and light titled Ember Glance – The Permanence of Memory. The exhibition was staged at the temporary museum 'Space FGO-Soko' on Tokyo Bay, Shinagawa, Tokyo.^[4]

1990s: Rain Tree Crow[link]

Also in 1990, Sylvian reunited with the former members of Japan for a new project. Unlike their past work, Sylvian decided to use methods of improvisation like those he explored in his work with Holger Czukay.^{[citation needed]}

Ingrid Chavez, an artist signed to Prince's Paisley Park Records, sent Sylvian a copy of her first album. He liked what he heard and thought her voice would fit well with some material that both Ryuichi Sakamoto and he were working on for a new Sakamoto release. Chavez and Sylvian quickly developed a bond and decided to travel together throughout the UK and the US, where they eventually settled after marrying in 1992 (they divorced twelve years later).^{[citation needed]}

1993: With Robert Fripp[link]

In the early 1990s, guitarist Robert Fripp invited Sylvian to sing with progressive rock stalwarts King Crimson. Sylvian declined the invitation, but he and Fripp recorded the album The First Day released in July 1993. Something of a departure for Sylvian, the album melded Sylvian's philosophical lyrics to funk workouts and aggressive rock stylings very much in the mould of Fripp's King Crimson. To capitalise on the album's success, the musicians went back out on the road in the autumn of 1993. A live recording, called Damage and released in 1994, was culled from the final shows of the tour.

Sylvian and Fripp's final collaboration was the installation Redemption – Approaching Silence. The exhibition was held at the P3 Art and Environment centre in Shinjuku, Tokyo, and ran from 30 August to 18 September 1994. The accompanying music was composed by Sylvian, with text written and recited by Fripp.

In the late summer of 1995, Sylvian undertook a one-man solo tour which he called 'Slow Fire – A Personal Retrospective'.

A period of relative musical inactivity followed, during which Sylvian and Ingrid Chavez moved from Minnesota to the Napa Valley. Chavez had given birth to two daughters, Ameera-Daya (born 1993) and Isobel (born 1997), and pursued her interest in photography and music. Sylvian and Chavez are now divorced.

1999 to present[link]

In 1999, Sylvian released Dead Bees on a Cake, his first solo album proper since Secrets of the Beehive twelve years earlier. The disc gathered together the most eclectic influences of all his recordings, ranging from soul music to jazz fusion to blues to Eastern-inflected spiritual chants, and most of the songs' lyrics reflected the now 41-year-old Sylvian's inner peace resulting from his marriage, family, and beliefs. Guest musicians included long-time friend Ryuichi Sakamoto, classically-trained tabla player Talvin Singh, avant-garde guitarist Marc Ribot, jazz trumpeter Kenny Wheeler, and contemporary jazz guitarist Bill Frisell. In 2010 Sylvian said, "Since the early ’80s I’ve been interested in deconstructing the familiar forms of popular song, in retaining the structure but removing the pillars of support. My work continually returns to this question: how much of the framework can you remove while still being able to identify what is, after all, a familiar form?"^[5]

Following Dead Bees, Sylvian released a pair of compilation albums through Virgin, a two-disc retrospective, Everything and Nothing, and an instrumental collection, Camphor. Both albums contained previously released material, some remixes, and several new or previously unreleased tracks which Sylvian finished especially for the projects.

Sylvian parted ways with Virgin and launched his own independent label, Samadhi Sound. He released the album Blemish. A fusion of styles, including jazz and electronica, the tour enabled Sylvian to perform music from the Nine Horses project, as well as various selections from his back catalogue. Blemish included contributions from Christian Fennesz and Derek Bailey. Sylvian used a different approach with this album. He has said about his process, "With Blemish I started each day in the studio with a very simple improvisation on guitar. Once recorded, I’d listen back and use cues from the improv—the dynamic and so on—to dictate the structure of the piece. I’d write lyrics and melody on the spot, and would follow that up with the recording of the vocal itself."^[5]

A new solo album entitled Manafon was released on 14 September 2009 in two editions – a regular CD/digipak edition and a twin boxset deluxe edition with two books that include the CD and a DVD featuring the film 'Amplified Gesture'. Manafon features contributions from leading figures in electroacoustic improvisation such as saxophonist Evan Parker, multi-instrumentalist Otomo Yoshihide, laptop + guitarist Christian Fennesz, Polwechsel's double bassist Werner Dafeldecker and cellist Michael Moser, sinewaves specialist Sachiko M and AMM alumni guitarist Keith Rowe, percussionist Eddie Prévost and pianist John Tilbury. In 2010 talked about Manafon, and said:

"What happened with Manafon was that the work abandoned me. As I was writing and developing the material, the spirit holding all these disparate elements together just left me. I sat stunned for a moment and then realised: It’s over; this is as far as it goes…In a sense, I’d been steadily working my way toward Manafon since I was a young man listening to Stockhausen and dabbling in deconstructing the pop song. Having said that, I don’t think we only develop as artists practising in our chosen fields. For me that meant an exploration of intuitive states via meditation and other related disciplines which, the more I witnessed free-improv players at work, appeared to be crucially important to enable a being there in the moment, a sustained alertness and receptivity."^[5]

In 2010 Sylvian released a compilation disc of his collaborative works with musicians over the last 10 years – Sleepwalkers includes songs with Ryuichi Sakamoto, Tweaker, Nine Horses, Steve Jansen, Christian Fennesz and Arve Henriksen. Also included are a few new songs such as Sleepwalkers which is co-written with drummer Martin Brandlmayr of Radian and Polwechsel.

In 2011, the double disc Died in the Wool was released as variations on the 2009 release Manafon with the addition of six new pieces, including collaborations with composer Dai Fujikura, producers Jan Bang and Erik Honoré, and a roster of contemporary musicians and improvisers. For the first time, a stereo mix of the audio installation “when we return you won’t recognise us” is available on CD, pairing a group of improvisers—John Butcher, Arve Henriksen, Günter Müller, Toshimaru Nakamura, and Eddie Prévost—with a string sextet directed by Fujikura. Also in 2011, Sylvian acted as the artist in residence at the Punkt Festival. In addition to curating the events of the festival, Sylvian performed his compositions 'The Spiralling Of Winter Ghosts' and 'Giant Empty Iron Vessel' backed by John Tilbury, Jan Bang, Phillip Jeck, Eivind Aarset, Eric Honore, and Arve Henriksen. The positive reception led to the decision to tour throughout Europe in 2012. The Implausible Beauty tour was due to feature a lineup of musicians including Jan Bang, guitarist Eivind Aarset, pianist Sebastian Lexer, cellist Hildur Gudnadottir and trumpeter Gunnar Halle. The tour was cancelled in late January 2012 due to Sylvian's poor health.^[6]

Discography[link]

Japan[link]

• Adolescent Sex (1978)
• Obscure Alternatives (1978)
• Quiet Life (1979)
• Gentlemen Take Polaroids (1980)
• Tin Drum (1981)
• Rain Tree Crow same line-up as Japan (1991)

Solo albums[link]

• Brilliant Trees (1984)
• Alchemy: An Index of Possibilities (1985)
• Gone to Earth (1986)
• Secrets of the Beehive (1987)
• Dead Bees on a Cake (1999)
• Blemish (2003)
• When Loud Weather Buffeted Naoshima (2007)
• Manafon (2009)

Collaborations[link]

• Plight & Premonition David Sylvian and Holger Czukay (1988)
• Flux and Mutability David Sylvian and Holger Czukay (1989)
• Ember Glance: The Permanence of Memory David Sylvian and Russell Mills (1991)
• The First Day David Sylvian and Robert Fripp (1993)
• Damage David Sylvian and Robert Fripp (1994)
• World Citizen (EP) David Sylvian and Ryuichi Sakamoto (2003)
• Snow Borne Sorrow Nine Horses David Sylvian, Steve Jansen and Burnt Friedman (2005)
• Money for All (EP) Nine Horses David Sylvian, Steve Jansen and Burnt Friedman (2007)

Compilations[link]

• Weatherbox (1989)
• Approaching Silence (1999)
• Everything and Nothing (2000)
• Camphor (2002)
• Sleepwalkers (2010)
• A Victim of Stars 1982–2012 (2012)

Remixes[link]

• The Good Son vs. The Only Daughter (2003)
• Died in the Wool–Manafon Variations (2011)

Contributions[link]

This is an incomplete list.

• "Good Night" on Ai Ga Nakucha Ne by Akiko Yano (1982)
• "Forbidden Colours" on Merry Christmas Mr Lawrence soundtrack by Ryuichi Sakamoto (1983)
• "Some Small Hope" on Hope In A Darkened Heart by Virginia Astley (1986)
• "Buoy" and "When Love Walks In" on Dreams Of Reason Produce Monsters by Mick Karn (1987)
• "Heartbeat (Returning To The Womb)" and "Cloud #9" on Heartbeat by Ryuichi Sakamoto (1991)
• "To a Reason" and "Victim Of Stars" on Sahara Blue by Hector Zazou (1992)
• "Come Morning", "The Golden Way" and "Maya" on Marco Polo by Nicola Alesini & Pier Luigi Andreoni (1995)
• "Ti Ho Aspettato (I Have Waited For You)" on L'Albero Pazzo by Andrea Chimenti (1995)
• "How Safe Is Deep?" on Undark:Strange Familiar by Russell Mills (1996)
• "Salvation" on Discord by Ryuichi Sakamoto (1998)
• "Rooms of Sixteen Shimmers" on Pearl And Umbra by Russell Mills (1999)
• "Forbidden Colours" on Cinemage by Ryuichi Sakamoto (2000)
• "Zero Landmine" on Zero Landmine by No More Landmine featuring Ryuichi Sakamoto and Various Artists (2001)
• "Sugarfuel" on Bold by Readymade FC (2001)
• "Linoleum" on The Attraction to All Things Uncertain by Tweaker (2001)
• "World Citizen (I Won't Be Disappointed)" on Chasm by Ryuichi Sakamoto (2004)
• "Transit" on Venice by Fennesz (2004)
• "Pure Genius" on 2 a.m. Wakeup Call by Tweaker (2004)
• "Late Night Shopping (remix)" by Fennesz (2004)
• "Exit/Delete" on Coieda by Takagi Masakatsu (2004)
• "Messenger" on Equus by Blonde Redhead (2004)
• "For the Love of Life (Ending Theme Full Version)" on "Monster – Original Soundtrack" (2004)
• "The Librarian" on Out In The Sticks and Secret Rhythms 2 by Burnt Friedman & Jaki Liebezeit (2005)
• "A Fire in the Forest" (Remix) on Babilonia by Readymade FC (2005)
• "Angels" on Crime Scenes by Punkt (2006)
• "Playground Martyrs" and "Ballad Of A Deadman" on Slope by Steve Jansen (2007)
• "Honor Wishes" and "No Question" (Japanese edition only) on To Survive by Joan As Police Woman (2008)
• "Before and Afterlife" and "Thermal" on Cartography by Arve Henriksen (2008)
• "Jacqueline" on The Believer -The 2009 Music Issue- (2009)
• "Modern Interior" at kizunaworld.org – David Sylvian & Jan Bang (2011)

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official website
• David Sylvian discography at Discogs
• Manafon – micro website for album Manafon (2009)
• Died In The Wool – micro website of release Died In The Wool / Manafon Variations (2011)

Ryuichi Sakamoto 坂本龍一
Ryuichi Sakamoto in June 2007
Background information
Born	(1952-01-17) January 17, 1952 (age 60) Tokyo, Japan
Genres	Classical, electronic, experimental, J‑pop, new wave, world
Occupations	musician, composer, record producer, pianist, actor
Instruments	Keyboard, piano
Years active	1977–present
Labels	Columbia Music Entertainment (1978–1979) Alfa Records (1979–1983) MIDI (1984–1986) Sony Music Entertainment Japan (1986–1987) EMI (1989–1991,1993) For Life Records (1994–1997) Warner Music (1998–2006) commmons (2006–present) A&M Records Restless Records
Associated acts	Yellow Magic Orchestra, Akiko Yano, Chris Mosdell, Sandii, Japan, David Sylvian, Kiyoshiro Imawano, Michael Jackson, Mari Iijima, David Bowie, Youssou N'Dour, Madonna, Talvin Singh, Sketch Show

Ryuichi Sakamoto (坂本 龍一, Sakamoto Ryūichi^?, born January 17, 1952) is a Japanese musician, composer, record producer, writer, singer, pianist, and actor, based in Tokyo and New York. He began his career in 1978 as a member of the pioneering electronic music group Yellow Magic Orchestra (YMO),^[1][2] where he played keyboards and was an occasional vocalist. The band was an international success, with worldwide hits such as "Computer Game / Firecracker" (1978) and "Behind the Mask" (1978),^[3] the latter written and sung by Sakamoto. He concurrently began pursuing a solo career, debuting with the experimental electronic fusion album The Thousand Knives of Ryūichi Sakamoto (1978), and later released the pioneering album B-2 Unit (1980), which included the electro classic "Riot in Lagos".^[4][5][6] After YMO disbanded in 1983, he produced more solo records, including collaborations with various international artists, through to the 1990s.

He began acting and composing for film with Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence (1983), which he starred in and composed the score for; the song "Forbidden Colours" which he composed for it became a worldwide hit and he won a BAFTA Award for the film's score.^[7] He later won an Academy Award and Grammy Award for scoring The Last Emperor (1987),^[8] and has also won two Golden Globe Awards for his work as a film composer.^[7] In addition, he also composed music for the 1992 Barcelona Olympics opening ceremony. In the early 1990s, he briefly reunited with YMO, playing an instrumental role in the techno and acid house movements of the era, before parting ways again shortly afterwards.^[9] His 1999 musical composition "Energy Flow", also known as the alternative title of the single disc Ura BTTB, was the first number-one instrumental single in Japan's Oricon charts history.^[10] He has also occasionally worked on anime and video games, as a composer as well as a scenario writer. In the late 2000s, he reunited once again with YMO, while continuing to compose film music. In 2009, he was awarded the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres from France's Ministry of Culture for his musical contributions.^[3]

Biography[link]

Early years and Yellow Magic Orchestra[link]

Sakamoto entered the Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music in 1970,^[11] earning a B.A. in music composition and an M.A. with special emphasis on both electronic and ethnic music. He studied ethnomusicology there with the intention of becoming a researcher in the field, due to his interest in various world music traditions, particularly the Japanese (especially Okinawan), Indian and African musical traditions.^[12] He was also trained in classical music and began experimenting with the electronic music equipment available at the university, including synthesizers such as the Buchla, Moog, and ARP.^[11] One of Sakamoto's classical influences was Claude Debussy, who he described as his "hero" and stated that “Asian music heavily influenced Debussy, and Debussy heavily influenced me. So, the music goes around the world and comes full circle.”^[13]

	"Behind the Mask" noicon A sample of "Behind the Mask", a synthpop song first written by Sakamoto and performed with Yellow Magic Orchestra in 1978, and then released on the 1979 album Solid State Survivor. Later cover versions were performed by artists such as Michael Jackson and Eric Clapton.
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After working as a session musician with Haruomi Hosono and Yukihiro Takahashi in 1977,^[14] the trio formed the internationally successful electronic music band Yellow Magic Orchestra (YMO) in 1978. Known for their seminal influence on electronic music, the group helped pioneer electronic genres such as electropop/technopop,^[1][2] synthpop,^[15] cyberpunk music,^[16] ambient house,^[1] and electronica.^[2] The group's work has had a lasting influence across genres ranging from hip hop^[2] and techno^[9][17] to acid house^[9] and general melodic music.^[15]

Sakamoto was the songwriter and composer for a number of the band's hit songs, including "Yellow Magic (Tong Poo)" (1978), "Technopolis" (1979), "Nice Age" (1980), "Ongaku" (1983), and "You've Got to Help Yourself" (1983), while playing the keyboards for many of their other songs, including international hits such as "Computer Game / Firecracker" (1978) and "Rydeen" (1979), and singing in several songs such as "Kimi ni Mune Kyun" (1983). He also wrote "Technopolis" (1979), which contributed to the development of techno,^[18] and the international hit "Behind the Mask" (1978), a synthpop song for which he sang the vocals through a vocoder and which would later be covered by a number of international artists, including Michael Jackson and Eric Clapton.

Solo career[link]

Sakamoto released his first solo album in mid-1978, Thousand Knives of Ryūichi Sakamoto, with the help of Hideki Matsutake, who would later be the "fourth member" of Yellow Magic Orchestra, and with the band's founding member Haruomi Hosono also contributing to the song "Thousand Knives". The album experimented with different styles, such as "Thousand Knives" and "The End of Asia" fusing electronic music with traditional Japanese music, while "Grasshoppers" was a more minimalistic piano song. The album was recorded from April to July in 1978 using a variety of electronic equipment, including various synthesizers such as the KORG PS-3100 polyphonic synthesizer, Oberheim Eight-Voice, Moog III-C, Polymoog, Minimoog, and Micromoog, as well as the Korg VC-10 vocoder, KORG SQ-10 analog sequencer, and Syn-Drums electronic drum kit. It was also the earliest known record to utilize the microprocessor-based Roland MC-8 Microcomposer music sequencer, which was programmed by Matsutake.^[19][20] Sakamoto would later remix his song "Thousand Knives" using the Roland TR-808 drum machine as "1000 Knives" for his band's album BGM (1981). His song "Grasshoppers" would also later be sampled in Ghostface Killah's "Baby" (2009).

	"Riot in Lagos" noicon A sample of "Riot in Lagos" from Ryuichi Sakamoto's 1980 album B-2 Unit. This song is credited for having anticipated the beats and sounds of electro music.
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In 1980, he released the solo album B-2 Unit, which is considered to be his "edgiest" record.^[21] It is known for the electronic classic "Riot in Lagos",^[21] which is considered an early example of electro music (electro-funk),^[4][5] for having anticipated the beats and sounds of electro.^[6] Ryuichi Sakamoto, particularly his song "Riot in Lagos", had an influence on early electro and hip hop artists such as Afrika Bambaata,^[6] and was cited by Kurtis Mantronik as a major influence on his electro hip hop group Mantronix.^[5] The song was later included in Playgroup's compilation album Kings of Electro (2007), alongside later electro classics such as Hashim's "Al-Nafyish" (1983).^[22] According to Dusted Magazine, Sakamoto's use of squelching bounce sounds and mechanical beats was later incorporated in early electro and hip hop music productions such as “Message II (Survival)” (1982) by Melle Mel and Duke Bootee, “Magic’s Wand” (1982) by Whodini and Thomas Dolby, Twilight 22’s “Electric Kingdom” (1983), and Kurt Mantronik's Mantronix: The Album (1985).^[23] The 1980 release of "Riot in Lagos" was listed by The Guardian in 2011 as one of the 50 key events in the history of dance music.^[24]

Also in 1980, Sakamoto released the single "War Head / Lexington Queen", an experimental synthpop and electro record.^[25] That same year, Sakamoto began a long-standing collaboration with David Sylvian when he co-wrote and performed on the Japan track "Taking Islands In Africa". In 1982, Sakamoto worked on another collaboration with Sylvian, a single entitled "Bamboo Houses/Bamboo Music". That same year, his collaboration with Kiyoshiro Imawano, "Ikenai Rouge Magic", topped the Oricon singles chart.^[26] In 1983, he produced Mari Iijima's debut album Rose.

Following the disbanding of Yellow Magic Orchestra in 1983, Sakamoto released a number of solo albums during the 1980s. While primarily focused on the piano and synthesizer, this series of albums boasted a roster of collaborators that included David Sylvian, David Byrne, Thomas Dolby, Nam June Paik, and Iggy Pop, among others. Sakamoto would alternate between exploring a variety of musical styles, ideas, and genres – captured most notably in his groundbreaking 1983 album Illustrated Musical Encyclopedia – and focusing on a specific subject or theme, such as the Italian Futurism movement in Futurista (1986). At times, Sakamoto would also present varying interpretations of technology's intersection with music: He would present some pieces, such as "Replica", with Kraftwerkian rigidity and order, while he would infuse humanity and humor into others – "Broadway Boogie Woogie", for example, liberally lifts samples from Ridley Scott's film Blade Runner and pairs them with a raucous, sax-driven techno-pop backdrop.

As his solo career began to extend outside Japan in the late 1980s, Sakamoto's explorations, influences, and collaborators followed suit. Beauty (1989) boasted a tracklist that combined pop and traditional Japanese and Okinawan songs, yet featured guest appearances by Jill Jones, Brian Wilson, and Robbie Robertson. Heartbeat (1991) and Sweet Revenge (1994), meanwhile, looked to international horizons and worked with a global range of artists such as Roddy Frame, Dee Dee Brave, Marco Prince, Arto Lindsay, Youssou N'Dour, David Sylvian, and Ingrid Chavez. 1996 saw the appearance of two notable albums: Smoochy, which fused pop and electronica with bossa nova and other South American forms, and 1996, which featured a number of previously released pieces arranged for solo piano, accompanied with violin and cello.

Following 1996, Sakamoto simultaneously delved into the classical and "post-techno" genres with Discord (1998), an hour-long orchestral work in four parts. Here he evoked the melodic qualities of his film score work, imbued with the influence of 20th century classical composers and spoken word. The Sony Classical release also featured an interactive CD-ROM component and website that complemented the work. Shortly thereafter, the Ninja Tune record label released a series of remixes of various sections, produced by a number of prominent electronica artists, including Amon Tobin, Talvin Singh and DJ Spooky.

The next album, BTTB (1998) – an acronym for "Back to the Basics" – was a fairly opaque reaction to the prior year's multilayered, lushly orchestrated Discord. The album comprised a series of original pieces on solo piano, including "Energy Flow" (a major hit in Japan) and a frenetic, four-hand arrangement of the Yellow Magic Orchestra classic "Tong Poo." On the BTTB U.S. tour, he opened the show performing a brief avant-garde DJ set under the stage name DJ Lovegroove.

1999 saw the long-awaited release of Sakamoto's "opera" LIFE. It premiered with seven sold-out performances in Tokyo and Osaka. This ambitious multi-genre multi-media project featured contributions by over 100 performers, including Pina Bausch, Bernardo Bertolucci, Josep Carreras, His Holiness The Dalai Lama and Salman Rushdie.

Sakamoto later teamed with cellist Jaques Morelenbaum (a member of his 1996 trio), and Morelenbaum's wife, Paula, on a pair of albums celebrating the work of bossa nova pioneer Antonio Carlos Jobim. They recorded their first album, Casa (2001), mostly in Jobim's home studio in Rio de Janeiro, with Sakamoto performing on the late Jobim's grand piano. The album was well received, having been included in the list of New York Times's top albums of 2002.

Sakamoto collaborated with Alva Noto (an alias of Carsten Nicolai) to release Vrioon, an album of Sakamoto's piano clusters treated by Nicolai's unique style of digital manipulation, involving the creation of "micro-loops" and minimal percussion. The two produced this work by passing the pieces back and forth until both were satisfied with the result. This debut, released on German label Raster-Noton, was voted record of the year 2004 in the electronica category by British magazine The Wire. They later released Insen (2005) – while produced in a similar manner to Vrioon, this album is somewhat more restrained and minimalist.

Meanwhile, Sakamoto continues to craft music to suit any context: In 2005, Finnish mobile phone manufacturer Nokia hired Sakamoto to compose ring and alert tones for their high-end phone, the Nokia 8800. A recent reunion with YMO pals Hosono and Takahashi also caused a stir in the Japanese press. They released a single "Rescue" in 2007 and a DVD "HAS/YMO" in 2008. Sakamoto's latest album, Out Of Noise, was released on March 4, 2009 in Japan. In July 2009 Sakamoto was honored as Officier of Ordre des Arts et des Lettres at the French Embassy in Tokyo.

Film composer and actor[link]

	"Merry Christmas, Mr Lawrence" noicon A sample of "Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence" from the 1983 film of the same name. It won him a BAFTA, was the basis for his hit song "Forbidden Colours", and has had a number of cover versions produced by other artists.
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Moviegoers may recognize Sakamoto primarily through his score work on two films: Nagisa Oshima's Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence (1983), including the title theme and the duet "Forbidden Colours" with David Sylvian, and Bernardo Bertolucci's The Last Emperor (1987), the latter of which earned him the Academy Award with fellow composers David Byrne and Cong Su. In that same year he composed the score to the cult-classic anime film Royal Space Force: The Wings of Honnêamise.

Frequent collaborator David Sylvian contributed lead vocals to "Forbidden Colours" – the main theme to Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence – which became a minor hit. Sixteen years later, the piece resurfaced as a popular dance track called "Heart of Asia" (by the group Watergate).

Other films scored by Sakamoto include Pedro Almodóvar's Tacones lejanos (High Heels) (1991), Bertolucci's The Little Buddha (1993), Oliver Stone's Wild Palms (1993), John Maybury's Love Is the Devil: Study for a Portrait of Francis Bacon (1998), Brian De Palma's Snake Eyes (1998) and Femme Fatale (2002), Oshima's Gohatto (1999), and Kiran Rao's Dhobi Ghat (2011).^[3] He also composed the score of the opening ceremony for the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, Spain, telecast live to an audience of over a billion viewers.

Several tracks from Sakamoto's earlier solo albums have also appeared in film soundtracks. In particular, variations of "Chinsagu No Hana" (from Beauty) and "Bibo No Aozora" (from 1996) provide the poignant closing pieces for Sue Brooks's Japanese Story (2003) and Alejandro González Iñárritu's Babel (2006), respectively.

Sakamoto has also acted in several films: perhaps his most notable performance was as the conflicted Captain Yonoi in Merry Christmas Mr Lawrence, alongside Takeshi Kitano and British rock singer David Bowie. He also played roles in The Last Emperor ( as Masahiko Amakasu) and Madonna's "Rain" music video.

Personal life[link]

Sakamoto has been married twice. His first marriage took place in 1972 but ended in divorce two years later. Sakamoto has a daughter from this relationship. Sakamoto then married popular Japanese pianist and singer Akiko Yano in 1982, having collaborated with her on some of her recordings. Yano was also a regular touring member of Yellow Magic Orchestra. They finally divorced in August 2006, 14 years after a mutual decision to live separately. They had one daughter, J-pop singer Miu Sakamoto.^[27]

In 1998, Italian ethnomusicologist Massimo Milano published Ryuichi Sakamoto. Conversazioni, a collection of essays and conversations.

He is also known as a critic of copyright law, arguing that it is antiquated in the information age. He argued that in "the last 100 years, only a few organisations have dominated the music world and ripped off both fans and creators" and that "with the internet we are going back to having tribal attitudes towards music."^[28] He is a member of anti-nuclear organization Stop Rokkasho and demand the abolition of Hamaoka Nuclear Power Plant.^[29]

Awards[link]

Ryuichi Sakamoto has won a number of awards for his work as a film composer, beginning with his score for Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence (1983) winning him the BAFTA Award for Best Film Music.^[7] His greatest award success was for scoring The Last Emperor (1987), which won him the Academy Award for Best Original Score, Golden Globe Award for Best Original Score, and Grammy Award for Best Score Soundtrack Album for a Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media,^[8] as well as a BAFTA nomination.^[7]

His score for The Sheltering Sky (1990) later won him his second Golden Globe Award, and his score for Little Buddha (1993) received another Grammy Award nomination. In 1997, his collaboration with Toshio Iwai, Music Plays Images X Images Play Music, was awarded the Golden Nica, the grand prize of the Prix Ars Electronica competition.^[30] He also contributed to the Academy Award winning soundtrack for Babel (2006) with several pieces of music,^[31] including the "Bibo no Aozora" closing theme. In 2009, he was awarded the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres from France's Ministry of Culture for his musical contributions.^[3]

The music video for "Risky", written and directed by Meiert Avis, also won the first ever MTV "Breakthrough Video Award". The ground breaking video explores transhumanist philosopher FM-2030's (Persian: فریدون اسفندیاری) ideas of "Nostalgia for the Future", in the form of an imagined love affair between a robot and one of Man Ray's models in Paris in the late 1930s. Additional inspiration was drawn from Jean Baudrillard, Edvard Munch's 1894 painting "Puberty", and Roland Barthes "Death of the Author". The surrealist black and white video uses stop motion, light painting, and other retro in-camera effects techniques. Meiert Avis shot Sakamoto while at work on the score for "The Last Emperor" in London. Sakamoto also appears in the video painting words and messages to an open shutter camera. Iggy Pop, who performs the vocals on "Risky", chose not to appear in the video, allowing his performance space to be occupied by the surrealist era robot.

Discography[link]

Studio albums[link]

Several albums exist in 2 versions, the original Japanese version and the international version, each having differences in tracklistings.

• Thousand Knives (1978)
• Tokyo Joe (1978, with Kazumi Watanabe, more a compilation than a proper album, featuring an odd mix of tracks from Thousand Knives and from the eponymous album by Watanabe's short lived Kylyn band)
• Summer Nerves (1979, with The Kakutogi Session)
• B2-Unit (1980)
• Left-Handed Dream (1981) (Tracklistings differ between Japanese and international issues)
• The Arrangement (1981, with Robin Scott) (originally released as an EP, later expended into a full album containing the complete sessions)
• The End of Asia (1982, with Danceries)
• Ongakuzukan (1984) with the single Replica (the international release from 1986 is titled Illustrated Musical Encyclopedia, and has a different tracklisting)
• Esperanto (1985)
• Futurista (1986)
• Coda (1986)
• Neo Geo (1987)
• Playing the Orchestra (1989)
• Undo #1 (1989)
• Beauty (1989)
• Heartbeat (1991)
• Benedict Beauty (1992)
• Soundbytes (1994, compilation of tracks recorded 1981–1986)
• Sweet Revenge (1994)
• Smoochy (1995)
• 1996 (1996)
• Discord (1997)
• BTTB (1999)
• Cinemage (1999)
• Intimate (1999, with Keizo Inoue)
• L I F E (2000)
• In The Lobby
• Comica (2002)
• Elephantism (2002)
• Moto.tronic (2003, Compilation of tracks recorded between 1983 & 2003)
• Love (2003)
• Chasm (2004)
• /04 (2004)
• /05 (2005)
• Cantus omnibus unus; for mixed or equal choir (2005)
• Bricolages (2006)
• Out of Noise (2009)
• Playing the Piano (2009)

Original soundtracks and event scores[link]

• Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence (1983) (Won BAFTA)
• Works I – CM (released in 2002, featuring commissioned works from 1981–1984)
• Koneko Monogatari (A Kitten's Story) (1986)
• Royal Space Force: The Wings of Honnêamise (Ôritsu uchûgun Oneamisu no tsubasa) (1987)
• The Last Emperor (1987) (Won Oscar, Grammy, Golden Globe)
• Fantasy of Light and Life (1989)
• Black Rain (1989) – featuring his song "Laserman"
• Tengai Makyo Ziria (1989)^[32] – video game
• The Sheltering Sky (1990) (Won Golden Globe)
• The Handmaid's Tale (1990)
• Peachboy (Momotaro)
• High Heels (1992)
• Wuthering Heights (1992)
• "El Mar Mediterrani" (composition for Barcelona Olympics opening ceremony) (1992)
• Topazu / Tokyo Decadence (1992)
• Wild Palms (1993)
• Little Buddha (1993)
• Music for Yohji Yamamoto Collection 1995
• Stalker (1997)
• Snake Eyes (1998)
• Love is the devil (1998)
• DreamCast (1998) – start-up sound for video game console^[33]
• Gohatto (1999)
• Poppoya (Main theme) (1999)
• L.O.L.: Lack of Love – Dreamcast video game (2000), for which he was also the scenario writer
• Zero Landmine (2001)
• Minha Vida Como Un Filme (2002)
• Femme Fatale (2002)
• Century Of Reform (2002)
• Derrida (2002)
• Japanese Story (2003) – featuring "Chinsagu No Hana" (from Beauty)
• Seven Samurai 20XX – PlayStation 2 video game (2004)
• Shining Boy & Little Randy (2005)
• Tony Takitani (2005)
• Babel (2006) – featuring "Bibo No Aozora" (from 1996)
• Dawn of Mana (2006) – PlayStation 2 video game
• Silk (2007)
• Indigo (Short-Film) (2008)
• Women Without Men (2009)
• Dhobi Ghat (India) (2011)
• Hara-Kiri: Death of a Samurai (2011)