Top 10 Facts about Joe Hisaishi

Joe Hisaishi in Paris. Photo by citykane. Wikimedia Commons.

Top 10 Facts about Joe Hisaishi

Joe Hisaishi was a Japanese composer and a musical director. His music explores many genres like experimental electronic, Western classical, Japanese classical, and minimalist. He was also a music engraver, arranger, and conductor. Joe also wrote music scores animator Hayao Miyazaki’s films.

He was born in Nakano, Nagano Japan. This was in the year1950 December 6^th. He has actively worked over the years and contributed greatly to the industry. He takes approximately one to three months to complete music that features in a film. This is on a case-by-case basis.

He is well known for being a composer who fused European classical styles with Japanese classical music. This kind of music was featured in animated films like ‘Castle in the Sky’. He is also respected for his excellent piano scores. He also released solo songs. Here are the top 10 facts about Joe Hisaishi.

1. Joe had a musical background

Joe Hisaishi in Krakow, 2011. Photo by Franciszek Vetulani. Wikimedia Commons.

Joe began taking violin lessons at the age of five years. His father had a power gramophone that used bamboo needles when he was young. Joe used this to listen to a lot of music of all genres at a young age. His parents were, however, not musicians.

In junior high school, Joe belonged to the brass band club. He played the trumpet, trombone, saxophone, and even conducted as well. This was the strong foundation upon which Joe built his career.

2. Many bands influenced his music

Joe listened to all kinds of jazz during his high school days. During his studying the piano at the music college, he got to discover favorite bands. He listened to ‘Invention and Symphonia’ by Glen Gould.

He also discovered Shostakovich, Schoenberg, Webern, Berg and Boulez. Another artist who contributed greatly to his inspiration was Terry Riley. Specifically, his song ‘A rainbow in curved air’. Minimal composers like Philip Glass and Steve Reich are also people he listened to.

3. Joe writes scores for films

This image was generated by the ArtBreeder GAN website. Photo by Watercolorheart. Wikimedia Commons.

Joe Hisaishi has written over 100 film scores. He has written the score for Hayao Miyazaki’s films since 1984.  Some of the films he scored for are; Mobile Suit Gundam movie, Kiki’s delivery service, Maison Ikkoki – apartment fantasy, and Crest of the Royal Family among many others.

He also did the theme-song arrangements and composed other anime openings, closing, and insert title themes such as Ai Shite Knight and the Magic Angel: Curtain call. He is a household name in the industry.

4. He has his label

At the age of 35, Joe Hisaishi created his label called Wonder Land Inc. He also initiated a solo career and began to produce music. He has done an amazing job in developing his career. He started small but has become a huge production.

5. He has received worldwide recognition

In 199, Hisaishi provided the soundtrack to the 1998 Winter Paralympics. In 1999 he composed the music for the third installment in a series of popular computer-animated educational films about the human body.

In the same year, he composed the score for the Takeshi Kitano film Kikujiro. The film’s title track Summer became one of Joe’s most recognizable compositions. In 2001, he served as the executive producer of the Night Fantasia 4 Movement at the Japan Expo in Fukushima.

6. Joe has also worked as a film director

On October 6^th, 2001 Joe Hisaishi made his debut as a film director in Quartet. He wrote both the music and the script of the film. The film received excellent reviews at the Montreal Film Festival. In the same year his first soundtrack for a foreign film, Le Petit Poucet was released.

7. Joe Hissaishi changed his name from Mamoru Fujisawa

Joe Hisaishi in Krakow, 2011. Photo by Franciszek Vetulani. Wikimedia Commons.

Mamoru Fujisawa as he was earlier called adopted the name Joe Hisaishi based on the kanji translation of Quincy Jones. Quincy Jones is an American musician and producer. This was done shortly before the release of his first production in 1981.

The album he released was called MKWAJU. It was written for a percussion ensemble and featured famed composer Midori Takada. The album was highly influenced by Japanese electronic music pioneers Yellow Magic Orchestra and American minimalists like Steve Reich.

8. Joe Hisaishi has written many scores for Studio Ghibli films

Joe is the master behind the magical sound in the films produced by Studio Ghibli films. He has done all the sounds except the 1979’s The Castle of Cagliostro. His work is very influential to the extent that the studio requested early compositions during pre-production to help shape the direction and writing of the films.

Hisaishi conjures the feeling of being suspended in time, in a peaceful and magical place through piano melodies or swooping strings and swelling brass in films.

9. He is known as the John Williams of Japan

Joe Hisaishi is referred to as the John Williams of Japan in the west. This is because of his long-running partnership with Hayao Miyazaki. Their partnership resembles that of Steven Spielberg and composer John Williams.

John Williams has written scores for Jurassic Park, Jaws, and the Indian series Jones. Miyazaki’s bond with Hisaishi remains strong to date. Among their recent collaborations is the 2018 Boro the Caterpillar done for Studio Ghibli Museum.

10. Hisaishi is highly decorated

Joe Hisaishi au festival du film asiatique de Deauville. Photo by Étienne ANDRÉ. Wikimedia Commons.

He has won the Japanese Academy Award for best music 8 times in his career. His music also featured in four of the top 11 all-time highest films in Japan.  Most films which he has scored songs for have received international recognition.

Some of them are Spirited Away which won Best Animated Feature at the Oscars in 2003, and Departures which was the first Japanese film to win Best Foreign Film at the Oscars in 2008. He was also awarded the Medal of Honor by the Government of Japan in 2009 for his various services to the arts.