Born in Yokohama City, Kanagawa Prefecture, he devoted himself to his studies at The Berlin University of the Arts in Germany.


Sakai has conducted the Royal Flevoland Orchestra, the Le Orchestre d'harmonie(France), the Lindthald Symphony Orchestra(Italy), the Szeged Symphony Orchestra (Hungary), and the orchestra for the Szeged Opera House (Hungary).

Besides conducting orchestras and wind ensembles at home and abroad, Sakai has also served as music director for "Free Participation Concerts" held throughout Japan .He has also been active recording instructional videos for wind music, involved with conductor workshops around the country, and judging wind music competitions. Furthermore, Sakai has also recorded CDs with the Yamaha Symphonic Band and conducted them when they appeared in The Midwest Band Clinic held in Chicago. Active in the educational arena as well, in the Netherlands, Sakai served as the conductor for a number of kindergarten, grade school and middle school workshops. He appeared in classes such as "Rhythm for Kindergartners," "Kindergartners Playing With Orchestras (with kindergartners playing violins and percussion instruments)," and "Orchestra for Grade School and Middle School Students." As far as Opera is concerned, he was involved in activities in Szeged, Hungary, and also conducted orchestras for other opera houses.

Up until today, Sakai has conducted public performances of the following operas: "La traviata," "Rigeletto," "Aida," "The Tales of Hoffmann," "Faust," "Die Fledermaus," "Der Rosenkavalier," "The Queen of Spades," "Carmen," "Tosca," "Madame Butterfly," "The Love For Three Oranges," "The Marriage of Figaro," "The Barber of Seville," "The Merry Widow," "Blue Beard's Castle," and other operas.