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| Many people lined up to see this exhibition |
Today was the last day of the Ryuichi Sakamoto: Seeing Sound, Hearing Time exhibition at the Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo and we managed to see it on the second last day. We had gotten tickets in advance so we were able to walk past the massive queue of people who were patiently waiting. They were mostly young people, and a few with young children and a handful of elderly.
My first introduction to the Japanese artist Sakamoto when he composed the soundtrack for The Last Emperor that came out in 1987. I was impressed by his work, and he indeed won an Academy Award for Best Original Score, the first Japanese composer to do so.
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| Patterns made by vibrations |
The next time I learned more about him was in 2019 when the restaurant Araki opened in Heritage 1881 in Tsim Sha Tsui. Funded by Richard Li, the Japanese restaurant was helmed by chef Mitsushiro Araki, who made the entire dining experience a performance.
As guests filed into the restaurant, he was already there, deftly breaking down a giant chunk of tuna.
I later learned that the wooden countertop in the restaurant was gifted to Araki by Sakamoto.
In 2014 Sakamoto was diagnosed with throat cancer, and took a year long break, which led to cancer going into remission. However, in early 2021 he was diagnosed with rectal cancer, though he continued to work, even giving what was to be his final performance, Ryuichi Sakamoto: Opus in 2023 before he died that year on March 28.
So we attended the exhibition almost two years to the day of his death, which explains why so many people were at the museum. It seems the Japanese still revere him and want to continue paying their respects to him, much like how Hongkongers try to commemorate Leslie Cheung Kwok-wing's death on April 1.
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| Fog created by the water of immortality |
Perhaps he was acutely aware of how much time he had left; one was a "film" where a poem was read out that suggested that life is like a dream. Another was a long horizontal video that showed lots of lines that eventually revealed a photograph, or a moving image of waves crashing onto rocks.
A small room had several photographs and videos group together that looked like an apartment -- was it Sakamoto's? But no one was there, though the kettle was on the stove, hot water boiling, the wind blowing leaves in another video, photographs of his music studio.
Meanwhile a large dark room had large square plexiglass suspended from the ceiling with water and smoke that was projected on the floor that showed different patterns of vibrations according to the music or sounds.
Another room had a deconstructed piano that played random notes. But the final exhibit showed him performing at the piano when he was younger, and it is projected so that it looks like he is playing a real piano in front of us, the keys pressed down. It is as he wants us to remember him, younger, vibrant and expressive.
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| Sakamoto playing the piano |
The "fog" is the water of immortality, that is supposed to weave together with Sakamoto's music... the fog can be overwhelming, as at times you can't see anything, but you will be able to see people right in front of you. A few seconds later the fog subsides a bit, but the jets spray more water into the air again. For Hongkongers it could trigger the feeling of looking at tear gas, but it's not at all.
At the end, visitors can return inside and use paper towels to wipe themselves down if they so wish. How Japanese.
I'm glad I was able to see this exhibition, to learn more about Sakamoto and see how the Japanese still love him as an artist and want to be closer to him whenever possible.
Contemporary Museum of Art Tokyo
4-1-1 Miyoshi, Koto-ku
Tokyo
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