Published
Thu, Jan 21, 2021, 10:10
- It is the beloved Japanese composer's second battle against the disease.
Ryuichi Sakamoto has revealed he is currently battling bowel cancer.
"From now on, I will be living alongside cancer," said the Japanese artist on his website. "The news was disheartening, but thanks to the excellent doctors I met, the surgery I underwent was a success," he added. "I am now undergoing treatment."
Sakamoto said he hopes to continue to make music for "a little while longer," though he said there "may be instances where I have to cancel my work." It is the second time he has been diagnosed with cancer, after a six-year period suffering from throat cancer beginning in 2014.
Sakamoto is renowned for his solo work (most recently his 2017 album, async), film scores including Merry Christmas, Mr Lawrence, Black Mirror and The Revenant, keyboard playing for Yellow Magic Orchestra and collaborations with Alva Noto. A documentary about Sakamoto's life entitled Coda was released in 2017.
Read Aaron Coultate's 2017 RA feature with Sakamoto.