Mamoru Fujisawa, better known as Joe Hisaishi, is a Japanese film composer born in 1950. He has composed soundtracks for more than 100 films. As of 2017, he received the Japanese Academy Award for Best Music seven times. Hisashi is best known as the main musical associate of Studio Ghibli.

 

In 1984 Hisaishi collaborated with Hayao Miyazaki for the first time on the animated film “Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind”, he demonstrated an enchanting orchestral style, utilizing soaring strings and flourishes of percussion to create a dramatic emotional resonance. Recounting production meetings with the director, Hisaishi describes the inspiration behind the music: “ I tried to connect with this feeling of hope… music that is slower, that allows the audience to experience what’s in the space between movements.”

 

Studio Ghibli became famous the following year. Hisashi developed a musical style that relates with the story in films such as My Neighbor Totoro (1988) and Princess Mononoke (1997). The international success of Spirited Away (2001), which became the highest-grossing film of all time at the Japanese box office, featuring what is regarded as his most well-known and masterpiece film score.