Interview by Yuko Shiomaki
Joe Hisaishi recalls being born in 1950 in Nagano Prefecture, taking up the violin at four or five, and seeing about 300 films a year as a small child, taken by his father. Arranging music for his middle school brass band made him want to compose. He studied harmony with Yuzuru Shimaoka, admired Toru Takemitsu and John Cage, and after hearing Terry Riley’s A Rainbow in Curved Air at 20 spent his twenties as a minimalist.
He was 33 when a record company asked him for a Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind image album; Hayao Miyazaki and Isao Takahata then chose him to score the film. He describes all-night music meetings, building the music for the giant Ohm from tape loops of his own voice, aiming for a more cohesive orchestral score on Castle in the Sky, and finding the My Neighbor Totoro theme in the bath.
He explains that Takahata wanted him for The Tale of the Princess Kaguya after hearing Villain, whose music observes rather than explains the characters’ feelings. He pairs the hichiriki with the South American quena in Princess Mononoke, recalls playing three demos for Howl’s Moving Castle, and notes that in 34–35 years he and Miyazaki first shared a meal at Takahata’s memorial.
Reflecting on the craft, he outlines stages of film music, from character themes to music as a third character, criticizes scores that merely set a mood, calls Stanley Kubrick’s use of music his guide, and says the joy of making something from nothing keeps him composing.