Joe Hisaishi

Mamoru Fujisawa, who goes by the name Joe Hisaishi, is a Japanese musician and composer best known for his film scores for productions by animator Hayao Miyakazi and director Takeshi Kitano. Born in Nagano, he studied music as a child and attended the Kunitachi College of Music and also studied with anime composer Takeo Watanabe.

He started off composing for television on series such as 'Hamime Ningen Gyatoruz' (1974), 'Robokko Beaton' (1976) and 'Sasuga No Saratubi' (1982). He released solo albums 'MKWAJU' (1981) and 'Information' (1982) and in 1984 he collaborated with Hayao Miyakazi for the first time on the animated feature 'Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind'. He has collaborated with Miyakazi many times since then including 'Castle in the Sky' (1986), 'Porco Rosso' (1992), 'Princess Monokoke' (1997) and 'Howl's Moving Castle' (2004). His films with Takeshi Kitano include 'A Scene at the Sea' (1991), 'Sonatine' (1993), 'Kids Return' (1996), 'Hana-bi' (1997), 'Kikujiro' (1999) and Dolls (2002).

He has worked with many other film-makers and released several solo albums including 'Minima Rhythm' (2009), 'Minima Rhythm 2' (2015) and 'Minima Rhythm 3' (2017). Compilations include 'Joe Hisaishi Meets Kitano Films' (2001), 'Hisaishi Meets Miyazaki Films' (2008), 'The Best of Cinema Music' (2011) and 'Ghibli Best Stories' (2014). He has performed around the world and won many film music awards including several from the Japan Academy. Recent scoring credits include the television miniseries 'In This Corner of the World' (2018), Ayuma Watanabe's animated 'Children of the Sea' (2019) and Yoshiyuki Momose's animated 'Ni No Kuni' (2019).