Ryuichi Sakamoto, a famed bibliophile, once said, “It was my dream to become a used bookstore owner someday.” In 2017, he began devising a book-related project called the “Sakamoto Library” to share his books with others. In September last year, a library space of the same name “Sakamoto Library” opened in a venue in Tokyo, where visitors can encounter books once owned by Ryuichi Sakamoto.
In this occasion, we present the “Sakamoto Library Extension,” where we will showcase Ryuichi Sakamoto’s books, ahead of the upcoming exhibition “Ryuichi Sakamoto | seeing sound, hearing time” to be held at the Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo from December 21 (Sat).
The “Sakamoto Library Branch” will reproduce Ryuichi Sakamoto’s reading space with books he enjoyed in his later years and furniture that he used, as well as sell used books which of the original items from the collection. This will be the first occasion that Sakamoto Library will exhibit outside their venue. What did books mean for Sakamoto Ryuichi? This is a rare opportunity for visitors to vicariously experience the many books that imbued Sakamoto with inspiration and creativity.
Planning: Sakamoto Library
Cooperated by: Kab Inc.
Exhibition Info
“Ryuichi Sakamoto | seeing sound, hearing time”
December 21st, 2024 - March 30th, 2025
The first comprehensive exhibition in Japan to focus entirely on large-scale installation works by composer and artist Ryuichi Sakamoto (1952-2023) will open in December 2024 at the Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo. Throughout his diverse artistic activities, Sakamoto continuously operated at the cutting edge of his time. Since the 2000s, he has been devoting himself to the creation of sound installations presented three-dimensionally in exhibition spaces, which he developed and executed in collaboration with various artists. This exhibition looks back on Sakamoto’s pioneering, experimental creative artworks, including some of his most well-known previous pieces, a new work for this particular occasion he envisioned before his passing, and a chronicle of his artistic endeavors, dynamically constructed in spaces in and around the museum building.
Ryuichi Sakamoto
Ryuichi Sakamoto was born in Tokyo in 1952. Making his debut in 1978 with the album Thousand Knives, Sakamoto's diverse résumé includes pioneering electronic works in the legendary techno group Yellow Magic Orchestra, producing pop albums and numerous classical compositions, two operas, and nearly 45 original film/TV scores. His film soundtracks have won prestigious awards, including an Academy Award, two Golden Globes, a Grammy, and many more. As an activist for many decades, Sakamoto's efforts focused on environmental conservation and world peace, including founding the forest preservation organization “more trees”, and the "Tohoku Youth Orchestra" to support the victims of the Tohoku Earthquake through music. Sakamoto also made considerable contributions to the art world with his work exhibited in galleries and museums worldwide. Recently, M WOODS, in China, presented the largest and most comprehensive collection spanning 30 years devoted to Sakamoto's artworks in various media, centering around 8 large-scale sound installations (Beijing, 2021; Cheng-du, 2023). He continued to cross borders into the art world even after death, with the ground-breaking mixed reality concert piece, "KAGAMI," touring New York, Manchester, London, and many future locations. Sakamoto passed away in March 2023 at the age of 71.