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Fatalism is a philosophical doctrine emphasizing the subjugation of all events or actions to fate.

Fatalism generally refers to several of the following ideas:

1. Though the word “fatalism” is commonly used to refer to an attitude of resignation in the face of some future event or events which are thought to be inevitable, philosophers usually use the word to refer to the view that we are powerless to do anything other than what we actually do.^[1] Included in this is that man has no power to influence the future, or indeed, his own actions.^[2] This belief is very similar to predeterminism.
2. That actions are free, but nevertheless work toward an inevitable end.^[3] This belief is very similar to compatibilist predestination.
3. That acceptance is appropriate, rather than resistance against inevitability. This belief is very similar to defeatism.

Determinism, fatalism and predestination[link]

While the terms are often used interchangeably, fatalism, determinism, and predestination are discrete in emphasizing different aspects of the futility of human will or the foreordination of destiny. However, all these doctrines share common ground.

Determinists generally agree that human actions affect the future but that human action is itself determined by a causal chain of prior events. Their view does not accentuate a "submission" to fate, whereas fatalists may stress an acceptance of future events as inevitable. Determinists believe the future is fixed specifically due to causality; fatalists and predestinarians believe that some or all aspects of the future are inescapable, but not necessarily due to causality.

Fatalism is a broader term than determinism. The presence of history indeterminisms/chances, i.e. events that could not be predicted by sole knowledge of other events, does not exclude fatalism. Necessity (such as a law of nature) will happen just as inevitably as a chance—both can be imagined as sovereign.

The Idle Argument[link]

One famous ancient argument regarding fatalism was the so-called Idle Argument. It argues that if something is fated, then it would be pointless or futile to make any effort to bring it about. The Idle Argument was described by Origen and Cicero and it went like this:

• If it is fated for you to recover from this illness, then you will recover whether you call a doctor or not.
• Likewise, if you are fated not to recover, you will not do so whether you call a doctor or not.
• But either it is fated that you will recover from this illness, or it is fated that you will not recover.
• Therefore it is futile to consult a doctor.^[4][5]

The Idle Argument was anticipated by Aristotle in his De Interpretatione chapter 9. The Stoics considered it to be a sophism and the Stoic Chrysippus attempted to refute it by pointing out that consulting the doctor would be as much fated as recovering. He seems to have introduced the idea that in cases like that at issue two events can be co-fated, so that one cannot occur without the other.^[6]

The logic argument[link]

The logical argument for fatalism is one that depends not on causation or physical circumstances but rather argues based on logical necessity. There are numerous versions of this argument, including those by Aristotle^[7] and Richard Taylor.^[2] These have been objected to and elaborated on^[1] but do not enjoy mainstream support.^{[citation needed]}

The key idea of logical fatalism is that there is a body of true propositions (statements) about what is going to happen, and these are true regardless of when they are made. So, for example, if it is true today that tomorrow there will be a sea battle, then there cannot fail to be a sea battle tomorrow, since otherwise it would not be true today that such a battle will take place tomorrow.

The argument relies heavily on the principle of bivalence: the idea that any proposition is either true or false. As a result of this principle, if it is not false that there will be a sea battle, then it is true; there is no in-between. However, rejecting the principle of bivalence—perhaps by saying that the truth of a proposition about the future is indeterminate—is a controversial view, since the principle is an accepted part of classical logic.

Another criticism of logical fatalism is that it assumes a timeless set of all propositions which exist without being proposed by anyone in particular. Constructivists (a school of thought in logic and mathematics) argue that this is not the case, and that propositions only exist when they are constructed, or expressed.

Criticisms[link]

In addition to the criticism levelled at the arguments put forward for fatalism, another criticism of fatalism in general is its assumption that truths do not conflict with each other. Twentieth century developments in theoretical and experimental quantum physics, specifically the concept of complementarity, seem to show that there exist pairs of statements, only one of which can be true at any given time. For example, Heisenberg's Principle of Uncertainty theorises that if it is true that a subatomic particle will be measured to have a well-defined position, then it is not true that the particle will be measured to have a well-defined momentum and vice versa. In other words, a maximum of one of the two statements 'has a well-defined position' and 'has a well-defined momentum' can be true of a given subatomic particle at a given time.^{[citation needed]}

Another noteworthy criticism comes from the novelist David Foster Wallace, who in a 1985 paper "Richard Taylor's Fatalism and the Semantics of Physical Modality" suggests that Taylor reached his conclusion of fatalism only because his argument involved two different and inconsistent notions of impossibility.^[8] Wallace did not reject fatalism per se, as he wrote in his closing passage, "if Taylor and the fatalists want to force upon us a metaphysical conclusion, they must do metaphysics, not semantics. And this seems entirely appropriate."^[8] Willem deVries and Jay Garfield, both of whom were advisers on Wallace’s thesis, expressed regret that Wallace never published his argument.^[8] In 2010, the thesis was, however, published posthumously as Time, Fate, and Language: An Essay on Free Will.

If the quantum physical rules apply universally, then the above-described complementarity constitutes experimental disproof of fatalism. It would therefore be of merely historical interest. If, on the other hand, the quantum physical formalisms apply only in restricted domains, then fatalism could be retained by restricting it to those domains in which the quantum formalism is inapplicable. One pure fatalist argument, is that the seeming random movement of quantum physics is not random at all. Instead, each movement is predetermined in a seemingly random pattern, but is actually a predetermined pattern. This belief is the pure fatalist counter to the quantum physics argument.^{[citation needed]}

See also[link]

• Accidental Necessity
• Amor fati
• Calvinism
• Defeatism
• Determinism
• Jansenism
• Libertarianism (metaphysics)
• Predestination
• Problem of future contingents
• Shikata ga nai
• Theological determinism
• Theological fatalism

Notes[link]

External links[link]

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Fate

Look up fatalism in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

• Fatalism vs. Free Will from Project Worldview

v t e Philosophy of time Concepts in time Time · Duration · A priori and a posteriori · Eternity · Event  · Action · Deterministic system · Free will · Eternal return · A-series and B-series · Temporal parts · Growing block universe Time Portal Theories of time Determinism · Temporal finitism · Fatalism · Indeterminism · Compatibilism and incompatibilism · Presentism · Eternalism · Four dimensionalism · Endurantism · Perdurantism  · B-Theory of time Related articles Metaphysics · Etiology · Teleology · Post hoc ergo propter hoc · The Unreality of Time

Peter M. Senge, November 2004

Peter Michael Senge (born 1947) is an American scientist and director of the Center for Organizational Learning at the MIT Sloan School of Management. He is known as author of the book The Fifth Discipline: The art and practice of the learning organization from 1990 (new edition 2006). He is a senior lecturer at the System Dynamics Group at MIT Sloan School of Management, and co-faculty at the New England Complex Systems Institute.

Biography[link]

Peter Senge received a B.S. in Aerospace engineering from Stanford University. While at Stanford, Senge also studied philosophy. He later earned an M.S. in social systems modeling from MIT in 1972. He also earned a Ph.D. from the MIT Sloan School of Management in 1978.^[1][2]

He was the Director of the Center for Organizational Learning at the MIT Sloan School of Management, and is currently (2005) on the faculty at MIT.

He is the founding chair of the Society for Organizational Learning (SoL). This organization helps with the communication of ideas between large corporations. It replaced the previous organization known as, The center for Organizational Learning at MIT.

He has had a regular meditation practice since 1996 and began meditating with a trip to Tassajara, a Zen Buddhist monastery, before attending Stanford.^[3] He recommends meditation or similar forms of contemplative practice.^[3][4][5]

Work[link]

An engineer by training, Peter was a protégé of John H. Hopkins and has followed closely the works of Michael Peters and Robert Fritz and based his books on pioneering works with the five disciplines in Ford, Chrysler, Shell, AT&T, Hannover Insurance, Harley-Davidson since the 70s and 80s through today.

Organization development[link]

Senge emerged in the 1990s as a major figure in organizational development with his book The Fifth Discipline where he developed the notion of a learning organization. This views organizations as dynamical systems (as defined in Systemics) in a state of continuous adaptation and improvement.

In 1997, Harvard Business Review identified The Fifth Discipline as one of the seminal management books of the previous 75 years.^[6] For this work, he was named by Journal of Business Strategy as the 'Strategist of the Century'. They further said that he was one of a very few people who 'had the greatest impact on the way we conduct business today'.^[6]

Too many businesses are engaged in endless search for a heroic leader who can inspire people to change. This effort creates grand strategies that are never fully developed. The effort to change creates resistance that finally overcomes the effort.^[7]

Peter Senge believes that real firms in real markets face both opportunities and natural limits to their development. Most efforts to change run directly into interpersonal and cultural issues embedded in the prevailing system that resist change. No amount of expert advise is useful. It's essential to develop reflection and inquiry skills so that the real issues can be opened for discussion. ^[7]

According to Peter Senge, there are four challenges in initiating changes. There must be a compelling case for change. There must be time to change and help during the change process. Lastly, as the perceived barriers to change are removed, it is important that some new problem, not before considered important or perhaps not even recognized doesn't become a critical barrier. ^[7]

Learning Organization and Systems Thinking[link]

According to Senge 'learning organizations' are those organizations where people continually expand their capacity to create the results they truly desire, where new and expansive patterns of thinking are nurtured, where collective aspiration is set free, and where people are continually learning to see the whole together."^[6] He argues that only those organizations that are able to adapt quickly and effectively will be able to excel in their field or market. In order to be a learning organization there must be two conditions present at all times. The first is the ability to design the organization to match the intended or desired outcomes and second, the ability to recognize when the initial direction of the organization is different from the desired outcome and follow the necessary steps to correct this mismatch. Organizations that are able to do this are exemplary.

Senge also believed in the theory of Systems Thinking which has sometimes been referred to as the 'Cornerstone' of the Learning Organization. Systems thinking, focuses on how the individual that is being studied interacts with the other constituents of the system.^[8] Rather than focusing on the individuals within an organization it prefers to look at a larger number of interactions within the organization and in between organizations as a whole.

See also[link]

• Organizational learning
• System Dynamics
• Systems thinking
• Strategy dynamics
• Strategic management
• Organizational Communication

Publications[link]

Peter Senge wrote several books and articles. A selection:

• 1990, The Fifth Discipline: The art and practice of the learning organization, Doubleday, New York, 1990.
• 1994, The Fifth Discipline Fieldbook
• 1999, The Dance of Change
• 2000, Schools that Learn: A Fifth Discipline Fieldbook for Educators, Parents, and Everyone Who Cares about Education
• 2004, Presence: Human Purpose and the Field of the Future, published in 2004
• 2005, Presence: An Exploration of Profound Change in People, 'Organizations, and Society'
• 2008, The Necessary Revolution: How Individuals and Organizations Are Working Together to Create a Sustainable World

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Peter Senge

• SoL, Society for Organizational Learning - which Senge founded
• Presence.net - another SoL web site based on his more recent publications
• Presencing Institute
• Systems Thinking in Action Conference, an annual event that Senge has keynoted for the last 19 years

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.
Problems listening to this file? See media help.

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.
Problems listening to this file? See media help.

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.
Problems listening to this file? See media help.

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)

With Morelenbaum²[link]

• Casa (2001)
• A Day in New York (2003)

With Carsten Nicolai, as alva noto + ryuichi sakamoto[link]

• Vrioon (CD, 2002)
• Insen (CD, 2005)
• Revep (CD EP, 2006)
• Insen Live (DVD, 2006)
• Utp_ (CD+DVD, 2008, with Ensemble Modern)
• Summvs (CD, 2011)

With Fennesz[link]

• Sala Santa Cecilia (2005, live EP)
• Cendre (2007)
• Flumina (2011)

Other collaborations[link]

• Geisha Girls
• Japan: Gentlemen Take Polaroids (1980, features Ryuichi Sakamoto as co-writer of the track Taking Islands In Africa)
• Mari Iijima: Rose (1983, produced by Ryuichi Sakamoto)
• David Sylvian: Brilliant Trees (1984, features Ryuichi Sakamoto on piano/synthesizers on 3 tracks)
• David Sylvian: Alchemy: An Index of Possibilities (1985, features Ryuichi Sakamoto on piano and strings on 1 track)
• Thomas Dolby: Fieldwork (1985, written by Ryuichi Sakamoto and Thomas Dolby, featuring Thomas Dolby on vocals)
• David Sylvian: Secrets of the Beehive (1987, featuring Ryuichi Sakamoto on all 10 tracks)
• David van Tieghem: Safety in Numbers (1989, features Ryuichi Sakamoto on keyboards on 2 tracks)
• Hector Zazou: Sahara Blue (1992, features Ryuichi Sakamoto on piano on 4 tracks)
• Hector Zazou: Strong Currents (2003, features Ryuichi Sakamoto on piano)
• Aztec Camera: Dreamland (1993, produced with Roddy Frame)
• Holly Johnson: Love And Hate (1994), features Johnson on vocals
• Arto Lindsay: O Corpo Sutil (1996, features Ryuichi Sakamoto on 4 tracks)
• Red Hot + Rio, produced by the Red Hot Organization: É Preciso Perdoar (1996, Ryuichi Sakamoto performs keyboards for the duet sung by Cesária Évora and Caetano Veloso)
• David Sylvian: Dead Bees on a Cake (1999, features Ryuichi Sakamoto on 7 tracks)
• David Sylvian: Everything and Nothing (2000, features Ryuichi Sakamoto on 9 tracks)
• M-Flo: Astromantic (2004, features Ryuichi Sakamoto on 1 track)
• Senor Coconut: Yellow Fever! (2006, features Ryuichi Sakamoto on 1 track)
• Willits + Sakamoto: Ocean Fire (2007, with Christopher Willits)
• Les Nouvelles Polyphonies Corses: Les Nouvelles Polyphonies Corses (features Ryuichi Sakamoto on piano and backing vocals)
• Ayuo: Memory Theatre (features Ryuichi Sakamoto on two tracks)
• Rodrigo Leão: "Cinema" (features Ryuichi Sakamoto on 1 track)

Commmons[link]

In 2006, Sakamoto, with avex Group's help, founded Commmons (コモンズ, Komonzu^?), a record label promising change in the way music should be. For him, Commmons is not his label, but is a platform for all aspiring artists to join as equal collaborators and share for benefits of the music industry. The word Commmons has three M's because the 3rd M stands for music.

References[link]

External links[link]

• The official Ryūichi Sakamoto web site
• Commmons – Sakamoto's record label
• Ryuichi Sakamoto at Allmusic
• Raster-Noton site
• Fan Website
• Ustream – Live Channel for RYUICHI SAKAMOTO NORTH AMERICAN TOUR 2010
• Classical Archives Interview
• interview for Lexnews magazine