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Joe Hisaishi | |
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久石 譲 | |
 Hisaishi in 2011 | |
| Born | Mamoru Fujisawa (1950-12-06)December 6, 1950 (age 75) Nakano, Nagano, Japan |
| Education | Kunitachi College of Music |
| Children | Mai Fujisawa |
| Musical career | |
| Genres | |
| Occupations |
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| Instruments | |
| Years active | 1974–present |
| Labels | Deutsche Grammophon/Universal Classics |
Musical artist | |
Mamoru Fujisawa (Japanese:藤澤 守,Hepburn:Fujisawa Mamoru; born December 6, 1950), known professionally asJoe Hisaishi (久石 譲,Hisaishi Jō), is a Japanesecomposer,musical director,conductor andpianist, known for over 100film scores and solo albums dating back to 1981. Hisaishi's music has been known to explore and incorporate different genres, includingminimalist,experimental electronic,Western classical, andJapanese classical. He has also worked as amusic engraver and arranger.
He has been associated with director and animatorHayao Miyazaki since 1984, having written scores for all but one of Miyazaki's films. He is also recognized for his music for filmmaker'Beat' Takeshi Kitano, includingA Scene at the Sea (1991),Sonatine (1993),Kids Return (1996),Hana-bi (1997),Kikujiro (1999),Brother (2000), andDolls (2002), and for the video game seriesNi no Kuni. He composed the score for the Oscar-winning filmDepartures (2008). He was a student of anime composerTakeo Watanabe.[1][2]
Hisaishi was born inNakano, Nagano, Japan, as Mamoru Fujisawa (藤澤 守,Fujisawa Mamoru). He started learning the violin at the age of four using theSuzuki method, and began watching hundreds of movies each year with his father.[3] He attended theKunitachi College of Music in 1969, where he majored inmusic composition, and collaborated withminimalist artists as a music engraver.[citation needed]
In 1974, Hisaishi wrote music for the anime seriesGyatoruzu, and composed some of his other early works, under his given name. He also composed forSasuga no Sarutobi (Academy of Ninja) andFutari Daka (A Full Throttle).
In the 1970s, Hisaishi's compositions were influenced byJapanese popular music,electronic music andNew Age music, and by the Japanese electronic bandYellow Magic Orchestra. He developed his music fromminimalist ideas and expanded toward orchestral work. Around 1975, he presented his first public performance. His first album,MKWAJU, was released in 1981; his second, the electropop-minimalistInformation, was released a year later. His first major anime scores were forHajime Ningen Gyatoruz (1974) andRobokko Beeton (1976).
As he became better known, Hisaishi formulated an alias inspired by American musician and composerQuincy Jones: the samekanji in "Hisaishi" can also be pronounced "Kuishi," which is close to the way "Quincy" is transliterated into Japanese as "Kuinshī"; and "Joe" came from "Jones".[4][unreliable source][5]
In 1983, Hisaishi was recommended byTokuma, who had publishedInformation, to create an image album for Hayao Miyazaki's animated filmNausicaä of the Valley of the Wind. It was the first of many of Miyazaki's films Hisaishi would score. (Their collaboration has been compared to that of directorSteven Spielberg and composerJohn Williams.[6])
In 1985, Hisaishi founded his own recording studio, Wonder Station.[7] In 1986, he scoredLaputa: Castle in the Sky for Miyazaki's newly establishedStudio Ghibli; then in the 1990s, scored the Ghibli filmsPorco Rosso andPrincess Mononoke. Hisaishi's compositions (including eight theatrical films and oneOVA) become well known as a style associated with early anime. He also composed for such TV and movie hits asSasuga no Sarutobi,Two Down Full Base,Tonde Mon Pe and the animeTekuno porisu 21C (all 1982),Oz no mahōtsukai (1982),Sasuraiger (1983),Futari Taka (1984), andHonō no Alpen Rose (1985). He also scored the sci-fi adventure seriesMospeada (1983). Other films he scored included,Birth (Bāsu) (1984),Arion (1986),Robot Carnival (1987),My Neighbor Totoro (1988),Crest of the Royal Family (1988),Venus Wars (1989),Kiki's Delivery Service (1989) andOcean Heaven (2010). He also did theme-song arrangements and composed other anime opening, closing, and insert title theme songs such asMahō Shōjo Lalabel (1980),Hello! Sandybell (1981),Meiken Jolie (1981),Voltron (1981),Ai Shite Knight (1983),Creamy Mami, the Magic Angel: Curtain Call (1986), andKimagure Orange Road: The Movie (1988).
Hisaishi also developed a solo music production career. In 1989, he released his first solo album,Pretender, through his new Wonder Land Inc. label.
In 1998, Hisaishi provided the soundtrack to the1998 Winter Paralympics. The next year, he composed the music for the third installment ofThe Universe Within (NHKスペシャル 驚異の小宇宙 人体III 遺伝子,NHK Supesharu Kyōi no Shōuchū Jintai III Idenshi), a series of popular animated educational films about the human body produced byNHK[8] and the score for the Takeshi Kitano filmKikujiro, whose title trackSummer became one of his most recognized compositions.
In 2001, Hisaishi produced music for another Kitano film,Brother, and Hayao Miyazaki's animated filmSpirited Away. The opening theme to this film,One Summer's Day,[9] had great popularity, with over 62 millionSpotify streams as of March 2024.[10] He also executive-produced the Night Fantasia 4 Movement at the Japan Expo in Fukushima 2001. On October 6, he debuted as a film director inQuartet,[11] having also written its music and script; it received excellent reviews at theMontreal World Film Festival. His first soundtrack for a foreign film,Le Petit Poucet, was released the same year.
Miyazaki filmHowl's Moving Castle was released on November 20, 2004, in Japan. Its main theme,Merry-Go-Round, became Hisaishi's most commercially successful movie score, with over 137 millionSpotify streams as of September 2025.[10] From November 3 to 29, 2004, Hisaishi embarked on his "Joe Hisaishi Freedom – Piano Stories 2004" tour with Canadian musicians. In 2005, he composed the soundtrack for the South Korean filmWelcome to Dongmakgol (웰컴 투 동막골), and participated MBC drama seriesThe Legend (태왕사신기 "The Story of the First King's Four Gods"), released in 2007.
In 2006, Hisaishi released his studio albumAsian X.T.C.,[12] characterized by a significantly eclectic and contemporary Eastern style. Zhan Li Jun, theerhuplayer of the Chinese band12 Girls Band, featured music from the album in a live concert. The next year, Hisaishi composed and recorded the soundtrack forFrederic Lepage's filmSunny and the Elephant, and for Miyazaki's filmPonyo on the Cliff by the Sea (both released in 2008), and the score forJiang Wen's filmThe Sun Also Rises (太阳照常升起).[13]
In 2008, Hisaishi composed soundtracks for the Academy Award-winning filmDepartures.[14] He also scoredI'd Rather Be a Shellfish (私は貝になりたい,Watashi wa Kai ni Naritai), a post-World War II war-crime trial drama, based on the 1959 Tetsutaro Kato novel and film currently being remade and directed by Katsuo Fukuzawa, starringMasahiro Nakai andYukie Nakama.
In August 2008, he arranged, performed in, conducted, and played piano in a concert with the World Dream Symphony Orchestra[15] to observe his 25 years of collaboration with director Hayao Miyazaki.[16] Featuring over 1200 musicians, it sold out the world-famousBudokan.[17]
In 2009, Hisaishi released a solo album featuring tracks fromShellfish andDepartures. In 2010, he became an invited professor at the Japanese National College of Music.[18]
In 2013, he composed the score for theNHK wildlife documentaryLegends of the Deep:Giant Squid(世界初撮影! 深海の超巨大イカ),[19][20] narrated byDavid Attenborough, for BBC's Natural World specialGiant Squid: Filming the Impossible.[21]
On June 28, 2013, Hisaishi was among those invited to join theAcademy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, recognizing people "who have distinguished themselves by their contributions to theatrical motion pictures."[22]
In 2016, Hisaishi was appointed art director of the Nagano City Art Museum.[23] In 2017, he gave three concerts in Paris, similar to his 25-year Ghibli collaboration anniversary concert, performed in thePalais des Congrès de Paris.[24] In May 2018, Hisaishi performed five sold-out concerts in his North American debut in California, US, at theSan Jose Center for the Performing Arts withSymphony Silicon Valley.[25] He also wrote the soundtrack for theTBS Nichiyō Gekijō dramaIn This Corner of the World.[26]
On February 21, 2020, the albumDream Songs: The Essential Joe Hisaishi was released throughDecca Gold,[14][27] featuring 28 compositions from Hisaishi's career.
On February 19, 2021, the filmSoul Snatcher (赤狐书生)'s soundtrack albumRed Fox Scholar (Original Soundtrack) was digitally released, with 34 compositions ranging from 25 seconds to nearly five minutes in length.[28] In 2022, Hisaishi worked on theRoyal Shakespeare Company theatre production ofMy Neighbour Totoro.[29] On March 30, 2023, Hisaishi signed an exclusive recording agreement withDeutsche Grammophon.[30] Hisaishi composed the soundtrack for the filmSilent Love, released on January 26, 2024.[31] In 2025, Hisaishi composed the soundtrack forA Big Bold Beautiful Journey, his first Western film soundtrack.[32][33]
Hisaishi has won numerous awards, including seven Japanese Academy Awards for Best Music (1992,[34] 1993,[35] 1994,[36] 1999,[37] 2000,[38] 2009,[39] and 2011[40]); the Newcomer Award from the Ministry of Education (Public Entertainment Section) (1997); the Art Choice Award for New Artist (Popular Performing Arts Division) (1998); the Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award Music Prize forHowl's Moving Castle (2005); and the International Film Music Critics Association Award for Television Division Best Original Score Award (for the South Korean dramaQueen Shikigami) (2008).
In November 2009, he received theMedal of Honor with Purple Ribbon from theGovernment of Japan.[41][42]
In November 2023, he received theOrder of the Rising Sun, 4th Class, Gold Rays with Rosette.[43]
Hisaishi was nominated for theGolden Globe Award forBest Original Score forThe Boy and the Heron (2023).[44]
In 2024, Hisaishi was awarded theWinsor McCay Award at that year'sAnnie Awards in recognition of his "unparalleled achievement and exceptional contributions to animation".[45]
音楽・久石譲 演奏・東京ニューシティ管弦楽団。
