Ryuichi Sakamoto (?? ?? Sakamoto Ry?ichi, born January 17, 1952, Nakano, Tokyo, Japan) is an Academy Award-winning, Grammy-winning, Golden Globe-winning Japanese musician, composer, producer and actor, based in New York and Tokyo. He is ranked at number 59, in a list of the top 100 most influential musicians compiled by HMV. http://www.hmv.co.jp/news/newsDetail.asp?newsnum=303130012 Biography Early years and Yellow Magic Orchestra Sakamoto attended the Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music, where he earned a B.A. in music composition and an M.A. with special emphasis on both electronic and ethnic music. After working as a session musician, he formed the internationally successful synthpop trio Yellow Magic Orchestra, with Haruomi Hosono and Yukihiro Takahashi. Solo career Sakamoto released his first solo album, The Thousand Knives of Ryuichi S