April 21, 2023: Ryuichi Sakamoto(1)（坂本龍一さん(1)）

It has been about three weeks since I heard the news that a great musician, Ryuichi Sakamoto, had passed away. But I have still not been able to accept the fact. He is still alive in my heart.
The other day, I watched one of his concerts on WOWOW. It was the one held in 2014, and he was on stage with the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra. He played a lot of music for about two hours. His performance was so great and energetic as to make me forget the time. That made me see that he was, and still is, in my heart. I had never been in such a mood before. In other words, he has had a significant presence in my heart.
It was when I bought an album by a music band, Yellow Magic Orchestra, in my university days that I knew him. The band consisted of three members, one of whom was Ryuichi Sakamoto. When I heard his music, Technopolis," on the album for the first time, it sounded very strange to me. It was because I had never heard that kind of music before, and it was quite new to me. While I was listening to it again and again, however, my ears got used to it, and it sounded pleasant. Since then, he has captured my heart.
Ryuichi Sakamoto will always be in my heart.

　坂本龍一さんの訃報を聞いて、3週間。でも、ボクの中では、亡くなったことがいまだに信じられません。ボクの心の中では、いまだに生きています。
　先日、WOWOWで坂本さんのコンサートを見ました。2014年に開催された東京フィルハーモニー交響楽団との共演によるコンサートでした。約2時間及ぶ演奏でしたが、時間を忘れるほどのすばらしく、精力的な演奏で時間を忘れるほどでした。そしてこの時、坂本さんはまだボクの心の中で生きていいると感じました。こんな気持ちをいだくのは初めてです。自分の中での坂本さんの存在の大きさを改めて感じています。
　坂本さんを知ったのは、ボクが学生の頃に音楽バンド・YMO（Yellow Magic Orchestra）のアルバムをかった時です。YMOは3人組で、その内の一人が坂本龍一さんでした。このアルバムに入っていた「Technopolis」を初めて聴いたときは、「けったいな」音楽という印象だったのですが、聴いているうちに耳が慣れてきて、ここちよくなりました。それ以来、病みつきになりました。
　坂本さんはボクの心の中でずっと生き続けます。