Early life
Hisaishi was born in Nakano, Nagano, Japan, as Mamoru Fujisawa (藤澤 守). He started learning the violin at the age of four using the Suzuki method, and began watching hundreds of movies each year with his father.[3] He attended the Kunitachi College of Music in 1969, where he majored in music composition, and collaborated with minimalist artists as a music engraver.
In 1974, Hisaishi wrote music for the anime series Gyatoruzu, and composed some of his other early works, under his given name. He also composed for Sasuga no Sarutobi (Academy of Ninja) and Futari Daka (A Full Throttle).
In the 1970s, Hisaishi's compositions were influenced by Japanese popular music, electronic music and New Age music, and by the Japanese electronic band Yellow Magic Orchestra. He developed his music from minimalist 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-minimalist Information, was released a year later. His first major anime scores were for Hajime Ningen Gyatoruz (1974) and Robokko Beeton (1976).
As he became better known, Hisaishi formulated an alias inspired by American musician and composer Quincy Jones: the same kanji 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][5]
Anime film music
In 1983, Hisaishi was recommended by Tokuma, who had published Information, to create an image album for Hayao Miyazaki's animated film Nausicaä 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 director Steven Spielberg and composer John Williams.[6]
In 1985, Hisaishi founded his own recording studio, Wonder Station.[7] In 1986, he scored Laputa: Castle in the Sky for Miyazaki's newly established Studio Ghibli; then in the 1990s, scored the Ghibli films Porco Rosso and Princess Mononoke. Hisaishi's compositions (including eight theatrical films and one OVA) become well known as a style associated with early anime. He also composed for such TV and movie hits as Sasuga no Sarutobi, Two Down Full Base, Tonde Mon Pe and the anime
1998–2004
In 1998, Hisaishi provided the soundtrack to the 1998 Winter Paralympics. The next year, he composed the music for the third installment of The Universe Within (NHKスペシャル 驚異の小宇宙 人体III 遺伝子), a series of popular animated educational films about the human body produced by NHK[8] and the score for the Takeshi Kitano film Kikujiro, whose title track Summer became one of his most recognized compositions.
In 2001, Hisaishi produced music for another Kitano film, Brother, and Hayao Miyazaki's animated film Spirited Away. The opening theme to this film, One Summer's Day,[9] had great popularity, with over 62 million Spotify 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 in Quartet,[11]
2006–2013
In 2006, Hisaishi released his studio album Asian X.T.C.,[12] characterized by a significantly eclectic and contemporary Eastern style. Zhan Li Jun, the erhu player of the Chinese band 12 Girls Band, featured music from the album in a live concert. The next year, Hisaishi composed and recorded the soundtrack for Frederic Lepage's film Sunny and the Elephant, and for Miyazaki's film Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea (both released in 2008), and the score for Jiang Wen's film The Sun Also Rises (太阳照常升起).[13]
In 2008, Hisaishi composed soundtracks for the Academy Award-winning film Departures.[14] He also scored I'd Rather Be a Shellfish (私は貝になりたい), 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, starring Masahiro Nakai and Yukie Nakama.
In August 2008, he arranged, performed in, conducted, and played piano in a concert with the World Dream Symphony Orchestra[15]
2016–2019
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 the Palais des Congrès de Paris.[24] In May 2018, Hisaishi performed five sold-out concerts in his North American debut in California, US, at the San Jose Center for the Performing Arts with Symphony Silicon Valley.[25] He also wrote the soundtrack for the TBS Nichiyō Gekijō drama In This Corner of the World.[26]
2020–present
On February 21, 2020, the album Dream Songs: The Essential Joe Hisaishi was released through Decca Gold,[14][27] featuring 28 compositions from Hisaishi's career.
On February 19, 2021, the film Soul Snatcher (赤狐书生)'s soundtrack album Red 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 the Royal Shakespeare Company theatre production of My Neighbour Totoro.[29] On March 30, 2023, Hisaishi signed an exclusive recording agreement with Deutsche Grammophon.[30]
