Ryuichi Sakamoto Estate Backs Brian Eno’s No-War Appeal

On November 23, the official Instagram account of late composer Ryuichi Sakamoto announced that his estate “stands firmly with Brian Eno in this call—as Ryuichi himself would have done.” The post, shared alongside a stark white graphic, tags @brianeno and @microsoft and closes with the hashtags #noviolence #nowar #stopgenocide #freepalestine #endapartheid #worldpeace.

Estate Amplifies Eno’s Call For Peace

Brian Eno’s original letter—published in late November 2023 with backing from Microsoft—urged fellow musicians and cultural leaders to denounce all acts of violence in the Israel–Gaza conflict. Demand­ing an immediate ceasefire, Eno called out what he described as “apartheid and genocide” and encouraged artists to refuse performances in nations complicit in civilian suffering. By endorsing this appeal, Sakamoto’s estate extends the late composer’s long-standing commitment to humanitarian causes into today’s most urgent debates.

Tracing Ryuichi’s Music And Moral Compass

Over a five-decade career, Sakamoto balanced pioneering electronic music and award-winning film scores—most notably for Bernardo Bertolucci’s The Last Emperor (1987)—with outspoken activism. In 2002, just weeks after 9/11, he reflected: “Music requires peace. A world that needs music to heal sadness is misguided.” His 2004 album Chasm featured the track “War & Peace,” in which he posed probing questions about conflict, instinct, and coexistence. In a 2002 publication titled NO WAR—sustainability for peace, he argued for self-sufficient communities free from the geopolitical interests tied to fossil fuels.

A Broader Chorus Of Cultural Protest

Sakamoto was far from alone in using his platform for social justice. Since the outbreak of fighting in October 2023, dozens of artists—from Peter Gabriel to Massive Attack—have joined open letters and boycotts to pressure governments and demand civilian protections. By tying into widely circulated hashtags (#freepalestine, #endapartheid), the estate’s statement connects his legacy to an international movement of creators harnessing music and art to call for accountability.

Preserving An Artist’s Ethical Vision

Team skmt has maintained Sakamoto’s social channels since his passing in March 2023, sharing archival highlights such as his 2024 retrospective at the Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo. The estate’s new post demonstrates how those channels now also serve as vehicles for ongoing advocacy. Fans applauded the move in comments, recalling his environmental campaigns, refugee-aid benefit concerts, and collaborations with fellow activists like Brian Eno himself.

By lending Ryuichi Sakamoto’s name and moral authority to Eno and Microsoft’s no-war appeal, the composer’s estate ensures that his dual legacies—artistic innovation and human rights advocacy—continue to resonate in today’s fraught political landscape. The Instagram statement stands as both a timely plea and a reminder of the power artists wield when they insist that peace, not violence, be our guiding principle.

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Ratika Pai

 

Ratika holds a master's degree in commerce and a post-graduate diploma in communication and journalism from Mumbai University. She has 6 years of experience writing in various fields, such as finance, education, and lifestyle.

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