Composer of the Month: Joe Hisaishi
By Nox Conroy
What Danny Elfman excelled in contrast in composition, Joe Hisaishi boasts in volume. With 27 studio albums, 13 compilation albums, and 83 soundtrack albums over the course of a nearly 50-year career; his 26 awards are certainly deserved. In 2009, he was awarded a Japanese medal of honour, and his works have become globally recognisable, particularly his collaboration with the founder of the Japanese animation studio “Studio Ghibli” Hayao Miyazaki.
Born in Nakano of the Nagano region of Japan in 1950 under the name Mamoru Fujisawa. Hisaishi would later change his name to the (approximate) Kanji translation of US musician “Quincey Jones”, whose work he admired greatly. As young as four, he started learning at the Violin School Suzuki Shinichi and immersed himself in the world of film: watching hundreds a year with his father. In 1969, he attended the Kunitachi College of Music and majored in music composition, focussing on the minimalist genre. His other influences include Japanese popular music, electronic music, New Age music, the Japanese Electronic band “Yellow Magic Orchestra” and his learning as a student of fellow composer Takaeo Watanabe (composer of the anime Mobile Suit Gundam among others).
It is impossible to discuss the works of Joe Hisaishi without considering his nearly 40-year collaboration with Studio Ghibli co-founder Hayao Miyazaki. While Danny Elfman is renowned for his loud, orchestral timbre (and certainly Hisaishi can and has done this in the case of Spirited Away), what he is best known for in his work with the studio is a cosier accompaniment style, which allows the romanticisation of sound effects and the spectacular mundane in the films to shine through all the more. Not only does he take care with what he scores, but when he scores – for instance, never accompanying the process of cooking as the sound effects provided by Ghibli are immersive in themselves. Of the eleven feature films Miyazaki has directed for Ghibli, Joe Hisaishi has composed the score for all of them, the most recent being the 2023 release “The Boy and The Heron”. It is interesting that he has also scored for co-founder Isao Takahata’s film “The Tale of the Princess Kaguya”, an album of 37 very short compositions in beautifully soothing harp, piano, celeste,and other muted tones that allow the rapid rate at which we watch the young girl grow up, and the overwhelming sense of a lack of time to be conveyed with great effect. His first studio Ghibli score released in 1984, “Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind” is remarkable in its deviation from his typically gentle timbre, with the use of anthemic brass in the track “Nausicaä Requiem” establishing the dark, military themes of the film. Later in 1992, his work on “Porco Rosso” won him critical acclaim by way of a Mainichi Film Concours best music prize. The predominantly piano score is very laid back and reminds the listener of the playboy characterisation of the protagonist, a pig who quite literally flies. In 1997, Princess Mononoke followed, immediately becoming a fan favourite, with the track “Ashitaka and San” exemplifying perhaps his more traditional routes with complex, heavily pedalled legato piano composition. His most renowned score, however, came in 2001. “Spirited Away” was the winner of the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films, Saturn Award for best music, 1st prize at the Jasrac Awards, best animated music at the Mainichi Film Concours, best music at the 30th Annie Awards (U.S.A) and the Tokyo anime best music award. “One Summer’s Day” has been remixed by hundreds of Lofi artists (as well as many others of his works with Ghibli due to their relaxing tone) and is immediatelyrecognisable even to those who have never seen a single Ghibli film.
Ghibli’s fanbase have divisive opinions when it comes to the best score. The 2004 film “Howl’s Moving Castle” is often thrown in the mix for its opening song “Merry go round of life” on captivating organ, with heavy military percussion and contrasting piano. Hisaishi once commented: “I don't want to work with directors who use music only to accentuate sound effects. I want to work with people who give music the value it deserves”, and it is clear that Miyazaki has certainly achieved this.
With such a vast discography, however, it is clear that Hisaishi’s fame has not only been limited to his partnership with Miyazaki, as his other animated works include Gyatoruz (1974), Arion (1985), Maison Ikkoku (1986), Robot Carnival (1987), Venus Wars (1988), Kojika Monogatari (1991), Birth (1994) and NiNoKuni (2019). His first score for the anime “Hajime Ningen Gyatoruz”, a series about the wacky adventures of Giatrus and his tribe of the first human beings on the planet, reflects its comedic nature excellently by use of brass stabs and walking bassline. The movie “Arion” navigates the world of the Greek Pantheon and the horrors of war and poverty through heavy, rapid percussion and orchestral backing by way of descending flute scales and brass fanfare in the main theme. In contrast, “Robot Carnival” is somewhat morelight-hearted in nature, as it is structured as a series of short stories about Robots, and the accompanying score relies predominantly on legato piano, much like his work in “Princess Mononoke”. Following on from the Sci-Fi theme, “Venus Wars” concerns the war between two rival colonies “Ishtar” and “Aphrodia” on the planet Venus. The soundtrack is a roaring success of New Age synth melodies and house style four to the floor drum beats, electric funk guitar and soaring string lines. Hisaishi’s capability to compose for many different genres is undeniable.
Much like other famous composers, in recent years Hisaishi’s discography has started to encompass the medium of video games as well as film. Tjaphe previously mentioned animated film “NiNoKuni” is an adaptation of the game series which he was heavily involved with. “Ni No Kuni: Dominion of the Dark Djin”, is a fantasy role playing game (RPG) about a boy called Oliver who sets out to rescue his mother from Shadar, an evil sorcerer who steals pieces of people’s hearts. The game was originally released on the DS where it quickly gathered success. The soundtrack, whose main theme compared with its contemporaries was a largely on mute affair, which made use of a delicate piano melody was just as successful as the OST for his cinematic work. The initial success of the game has resulted in the development and release of a further two games: “Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch” on Play station in 2013 and “Ni No Kuni: Revenant Kingdom” in 2018. Ni No Kuni 3 is currently being produced by Level-5 and should promise more collaboration with Joe Hisaishi.
Despite a reputation for working in the animation industry, the composer has a plethora of Japanese live action film scores in addition, including: W’s tragedy (1984), Early Spring Tale (1985), Seisyun Den-Deke-Deke-Deke/The rocking horseman (1992), Chizuko's younger sister (1991), Haruka Nostalgy (1993), When the last sword is drawn (2002), Yamato (2005), A tale of Mari and Three Puppies (2007), Departures (2008), Tenchi the samurai astronomer (2012), Tokyo Family (2013), Kiseki No Ringo (2013) and The Little House (2014). The most commercially successful of these was the score for “The Rocking Horseman”, which won the 16th Japan Academy Prize for Best Music. The film follows Takeyoshi Fujiwara, a young high school student, who hears “Pipeline” by the ventures and is inspired to form a band. The track “Monument of Youth” adheres to his now established style of blending pitched percussion sounds such as marimba, celeste and xylophone with pedalled piano and a full orchestra. The 2002 film “When the Last Sword is Drawn” is a much more sombre film, following the acts committed by the Shinsengumi samurai Saitō Hajime and Yoshimura Kanichiro, related in reflection among two old men, and the compositional style is much more tense to match, with rapid discordant strings in the track “Mibu Wolf”. Another live action score to receive public recognition was that of “Departures”, which follows an unemployed cellist who finds work and a purpose in the mortuary. To pay homage to the protagonist’s own instrument, many pieces feature haunting cello melodies. It is also significant to note that, where many of his live action pieces differ from his works with Ghibli in being more abrasive in nature, this score returns to his minimalist legato roots.
Another partnership for which Joe Hisaishi is renowned, is his work with Takeshi Kitano. His scores for the director include: A Scene at the Sea (1991), Sonatine (1993), Kids Return (1996), Hana-BI (1998), Kikujiro (1999), Brother (2001) and Dolls (2002). His first collaboration with the artist, “A Scene at the Sea”, was immensely successful, winning another Mainichi Film Concours award for best music. Shigeru, a deaf garbage man, finds a surfboard on one of his runs, and with the help of his girlfriend Takako, also deaf, and an ex-surfing shop owner, he is accepted into the surfing community. Unlike the projects for which he has earned his reputation, this film focuses largely on the everyday rather than fantasy, however the soundtrack remains just as ethereal in its use of bells, synth and strings, reminiscent of tracks from “My Neighbour Totoro” such as “The Path of the Wind”, an understated use of timbre which railed against the tradition of the most successful scores in film being the loudest or most instantly recognisable (like the works of John Williams). His next collaboration, Sonatine, accompanied the urban and seedy landscapes of Murakawa’s gangster life and vengeful characterisation excellently with distorted synth, repetitive piano riff reminiscent of sci fi or horror films and lively percussion that combines well with the offbeat melodies to suggest a level of charisma but also deadly skill on the part of the protagonist. Dolls, in 2002, contrasts the fast pace of the action movie starkly due to its nature as a three-part romance story told in the medium of Japanese bunraku puppet theatre. While the synth and electronic effects are still there, they serve more to build an atmosphere of dissociation rather than action, fitting the mysterious nature of the film itself.
As well as a large range of Japanese films, both live action and animated, Hisaishi has also scored for several foreign productions, particularly Chinese and Korean films. He once explained: “I've largely focused on Japan my whole career, so I was interested to see how my music would be received by people of different backgrounds, religions and cultures.”Clearly, it was received well as his first South Korean score in 2005 “Welcome to Dongmakgol” won the 4th Korean film awards prize for best music. Set amongst a secluded village during the Vietnam war, whose villagers are unaware of the conflict and where several American, North, and South Korean troops stumble upon, the film received global recognition and critical praise. Perhaps to reflect the more rural nature of the environment, the score uses much more acoustic timbre than Joe Hisaishi’s usual orchestral or synth style works – the opening number particularly focussing on acoustic guitar, violin, and female vocal melodies in order to establish a sense of otherworldly separation from the war: a place out of time. Other foreign works he has contributed to include A Chinese Tall Story (2005), The Postmodern Life of My Aunt (2006), The Sun Also Rises (2007), Tae Wang Sa Shin Gi (2007) and Soul Snatcher (2020), the latter being a Chinese costume fantasy film and opening with several overlapping lines of discordant strings and bells to establish the fantasy genre.
Joe Hisiachi has produced a plethora of works other than media sound tracks, including his first studio album “MKWAJU” in 1981 and the soundtrack to the winter Paralympics in 1984. His studio albums borrow much more from his minimalist roots, implementing much more modal and repetitive melodies hardly comparable with his other works. In 2002, his first video album “Quartet” was released and the second “4Movement” in 2003. As early as the 1980s, he garnered a reputation as a film composer and has only expanded this reputation since – becoming synonymous with big name directors such as Hayao Miyazaki and Takeshi Kitano. Recognition for this has been ongoing throughout his life in the form of awards, and in 2016 he was appointed art director of Nagano City Museum. Despite being 72 years old, like Danny Elfman, the man has not slowed his rate of composition in later life – recently completing “The Boy and The Heron” score and undergoing a world tour with “World Dream Orchestra” in the summer of 2023.
Joe Hisaishi’s indomitable volume of composition is arguably due to his unwavering focus on film and tv media. unlike Elfman, Hisaishi is classical trained, Perhaps the discipline he learnt allows for him to create music which is of a very high quality and quantity in contrast with Elfman’s fluidity. regardless both composers and their work are very famous whilst demonstrating a surprising level of fusion work. Where Danny Elfman has succeeded in popularising new wave fusion in the industry, Hisaishi has been monumental in demonstrating that acoustic or minimalist scoring, as seen in some of his Ghibli and piano works, can be just as effective as the large brass and strings ensembles western audiences are so accustomed to. So, what is more impressive, a career born of self-teaching or dedicated study? Personally, I believe either pathway is valid but can see why composers such as Hisaishi with more traditional backgrounds for the industry are more commonly successful. While Danny Elfman is a wonder, he is one of few exceptions to the rule.
Edited by David Williamson
Nox Conroy writes the column: Composer of the Month. They are a first year English with Creative Writing student