Joe Hisaishi

Okay, let me just say it: Joe Hisaishi basically wrote the soundtrack to a huge chunk of my childhood and I didn't even realize it until much later. You hear those swelling strings the second a Ghibli film starts, and that's him, from the windswept melody of Nausicaa to the giddy stomp of Ponyo. What I love is the range, the guy can be all tender and minimalist at the piano, then turn around and conduct a full orchestra like his life depends on it. And the deep bond with Miyazaki, decades of it, gives the music this lived-in warmth you just can't fake. Even his name is a quiet wink at Quincy Jones, which tells you he's having fun. Decades in and still composing and touring the world, the man's a national treasure who refuses to coast.

Joe Hisaishi (born Mamoru Fujisawa) is a Japanese composer, arranger, conductor, and pianist born on December 6, 1950, in Nakano, Nagano, Japan. He graduated from Kunitachi College of Music with a degree in composition and established his career with the 1981 album MKWAJU, gaining widespread recognition the following year for his score to Hayao Miyazaki's Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind. Over four decades he has composed music for nearly all of Miyazaki's Studio Ghibli films as well as for films by director Takeshi Kitano, earning multiple Japan Academy Film Prize awards for Best Music and international recognition including the 2024 International Film Music Critics Association Award for Best Original Score in an Animated Feature for The Boy and the Heron.

Name (English)

Joe Hisaishi

Name (Japanese)

久石譲

Reading

ひさいしじょう

Born

December 6, 1950 (age 75)

Zodiac / Chinese zodiac

Sagittarius / Tiger

Origin

Nakano, Nagano, Japan

Blood type

B

Agency

Wonder City Inc.

Active years

1981–present

Occupation

Composer / Arranger / Conductor / Pianist

High school

Nagano Prefectural Suzaka High School

University

Kunitachi College of Music, Department of Composition

Debut

In 1981, released his first produced album MKWAJU. The following year, in 1984, he composed the score for Hayao Miyazaki's Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind, bringing him wide public recognition.

Awards & achievements

• 1992 Japan Academy Film Prize — Best Music (A Scene at the Sea, etc.)
• 1993 Japan Academy Film Prize — Best Music (Teentai Kessen)
• 1994 Japan Academy Film Prize — Best Music (Sonatine, etc.)
• 1999 Japan Academy Film Prize — Best Music (Hana-bi)
• 1998 Agency for Cultural Affairs Commissioner's Award for New Artist (Popular Arts Division)
• 2009 Medal with Purple Ribbon
• 2014 Japan Academy Film Prize — Best Music (The Wind Rises)
• 2024 International Film Music Critics Association Award — Best Original Score in an Animated Feature (The Boy and the Heron)
• 2024 Annie Award — Windsor McCay Award (Outstanding Contribution to the Art of Animation)

Timeline

1. 1950Born in Nakano, Nagano, Japan
2. 1974Graduated from Kunitachi College of Music, Department of Composition
3. 1981Released the produced album MKWAJU, marking the start of his full-scale music career
4. 1982Founded his own management office, Wonder City
5. 1984Composed the score for Hayao Miyazaki's Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind, drawing widespread attention
6. 1997Composed the score for Takeshi Kitano's Hana-bi
7. 2001Made his film directorial debut with the music film Quartet
8. 2009Departures won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film (to which he contributed as composer); received the Medal with Purple Ribbon
9. 2023Composed the score for Hayao Miyazaki's The Boy and the Heron
10. 2024Appointed Composer-in-Association of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (UK), for a three-year term

Spouse

Aya Fujisawa (classmate from Kunitachi College of Music piano department; married around 1982; CEO of Wonder City)

Children

One daughter (Mai, singer)

Hobbies

• Watching films

Specialties

• Piano performance
• Orchestral conducting
• Composition and arrangement

Motto

Private

• Official sitehttps://joehisaishi.com/
• Xhttps://x.com/official_joeh
• YouTubehttps://www.youtube.com/channel/UCxyzciBLt1Hyw06dlqwAIkw
• Wikipedia (Japanese)https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E4%B9%85%E7%9F%B3%E8%AD%B2

Tags

• Composer
• Studio Ghibli music
• Hayao Miyazaki
• From Nagano
• Kunitachi College of Music
• Film score
• Pianist
• Conductor

Last updated

2026-06-02

Facts are limited to publicly available information up to 2024; non-public or unconfirmed items are omitted. English text is machine-assisted (facts translated by Sonnet, "My Take" written by Opus 4.8). The Japanese page is the source of record.