The real musical magic of Ryuichi Sakamoto

TOKYO -- Ryuichi Sakamoto, who passed away on March 28, was arguably the best-known and most successful Japanese musician in the world. He won an Oscar for his soundtrack to Bernardo Bertolucci's "The Last Emperor" and several Golden Globes and Grammy awards and nominations for other films. In 1992, he scored the opening ceremony of the Barcelona Olympics, conducting the orchestra while a billion people watched.

His song “Behind the Mask” has been recorded by Michael Jackson and Eric Clapton. In Beijing, the Foreign Ministry spokesperson said that China was “deeply saddened” by his death. In France, he was taken very seriously, being considered an heir to Eric Satie and Claude Debussy, in the words of the newspaper Liberation.