Biography
Joe Hisaishi, born Mamoru Fujisawa, is a Japanese composer, conductor and pianist. He studied at Kunitachi College of Music and began his career composing for anime in the 1970s under his birth name.
Since providing the score for Hayao Miyazaki’s Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (1984), Hisaishi has composed the music for all but one of Miyazaki’s feature films. His credits include Castle in the Sky (1986), My Neighbor Totoro (1988), Spirited Away (2001), Howl’s Moving Castle (2004) and The Boy and the Heron (2023). He has also scored films by other directors, including Takeshi Kitano’s HANA-BI (1997).
Hisaishi has released numerous solo albums and performs his film music in concert. He received the Medal of Honour with Purple Ribbon in 2009.
