In Memoriam Atsushi Sakurai 1966-2023
Earlier today, news came out that Atsushi Sakurai, singer of Buck-Tick and a pioneer of Japanese rock and visual kei, has died at the age of 57. According to multiple reports, Sakurai became unwell during a concert in Yokohama last week, was helped offstage during the third song and died after being rushed to hospital, a brain stem haemorrhage being determined as the cause of death. An abrupt and tragic end to a musical career of forty years and one of the most iconic voices of Japanese music in general.
For me, Sakurai’s voice was what made Buck-Tick. Sure, guitarist Hisashi Imai always found new perspectives without deviating too far from the band’s characteristic blend of post-punk and alternative rock, but it was the deep, warm baritone Sakurai had from the nineties onward that won me over for the band. His voice was tailor-made for the more gothic-oriented material Buck-Tick recorded – he was known to be a great Bauhaus fan – and that is where both band and singer truly shone, in my opinion.
Stride
It is hard to imagine now, but Sakurai was not even originally a singer. When Buck-Tick started in 1983, Sakurai was their drummer and he did not become their singer until about two years later. Early releases like ‘Hurry Up Mode’ (1987) and ‘Seventh Heaven’ (1988) show a Sakurai with a notably lighter, higher voice than what he came to be known for, though age may have been a factor there as well, given that he was in his very early twenties at the time.
Buck-Tick did not truly hit its stride for me until ‘Taboo’ (1989) came out. There were still traces of the band’s early upbeat punky new wave sound, but tracks like the subtly titled ‘Sex for You’ and the title track signalled the start of an evolution in to something darker and more seductive. This evolution was further continued on the following ‘Aku no Hana’ (1990) – the title track of which is an unadulterated J-rock classic – and ‘Kurutta Taiyō’ (1991). The latter would also introduce the first foray into more industrial sounds, which would increasingly dominate the band’s album for about a decade and a half.
During those days, Sakurai was a large part of the band’s appeal. His good looks attracted a large female audience, but I suspect his lyrics also resonated with a lot of Japanese teenagers and twenty-somethings as well. Sex was always a prominent subject in his oeuvre, but I have always found his tales of disillusionment with the rockstar life to be the more interesting ones. It is hard to read a translation to the lyrics of a song like ‘Taiyo ni Korosareta’ and not see a man struggling to deal with immense fame.
Balanced
Allegedly, it was Sakurai’s solo album ‘Ai no Wakusei‘ (2004) that inspired Imai to go into more gothic rock-inspired territory for the next Buck-Tick release. The resulting album, ‘Jūsankai wa Gekkō‘ (2005), is probably my favorite work Sakurai sings on. The music, which I think sounds like a post-punk band discovering a more organic production style for the first time rather than full-on gothic rock, allows Sakurai’s deeper vocals to shine, resulting in extremely memorable hooks and an irresistible atmosphere.
The album also started a period during which Buck-Tick shed all of its industrial overtones in favor of a more stripped-down rock sound, resulting in great albums such as ‘Memento Mori’ (2009) and ‘Yume Miru Uchū’ (2012). The industrial and electronic touches did return on ‘Atom Miraiha No. 9‘ (2016), though in a far more balanced way than throughout the nineties, and throughout the last years of Sakurai’s life, Buck-Tick gradually morphed into a fairly unique electro-rock type of band. Their most recent album ‘Izora’ was released earlier this year.
Side Activities
Sakurai’s acticivities aside from Buck-Tick are interesting as well. He and Imai were in industrial rock band Schwein with KMFDM members Raymond Watts and Sascha Konietzko, releasing one album (‘Schweinstein’) and one remix album (‘Son of Schweinstein’) in 2001. One of my favorite releases Sakurai has ever done, however, is the album ‘I Am Mortal‘ he released with his project The Mortal in 2015. It is the album that sees him diving full-on into gothic rock and the harsher side of post-punk with spectacular results.
Not unlike many other Japanese musicians, Sakurai was very secretive about his private life, so I have no idea who to wish the best of luck in these difficult times, but I mean it nonetheless. For everyone who wants to get into his music or honor his track record as a musician, please enjoy this Spotify playlist I put together of his works:
Kevy Metal 
Another great article with wise knowledge and music background. By the way, my favourite song in Jyu-sankai wa Gekko is Goblin. Doukeshi A sounds like Turkish rock bands Duman and Mor ve Ötesi (A mixture of those bands)