Nicknamed the "professor" in Japan, Ryuichi Sakamoto's stardom with the group Yellow Magic Orchestra has been compared to that of David Bowie, with whom he co-starred in Oshima's film Merry Christmas Mr Lawrence and for which he composed the soundtrack.

Tokyo Melody is a cinematic jigsaw puzzle introducing us to the musical world of Ryuichi Sakamoto: in concert, in the recording studio, composing at home and little scenes of Tokyo on which Sakamoto is "an actor in his own life" The spectator is asked to listen to the images and watch the sounds.