Joe Hisaishi

Joe Hisaishi

Birth : 1950-12-06, Nagano Prefecture, Japan

History

Joe Hisaishi is a Japanese composer and director known for over 100 film scores and solo albums dating back to 1981. While possessing a stylistically distinct sound, his music has been known to explore and incorporate different genres.

Profile

Joe Hisaishi
Joe Hisaishi

Movies

The Boy and the Heron
Original Music Composer
While the Second World War rages, the teenage Mahito, haunted by his mother's tragic death, is relocated from Tokyo to the serene rural home of his new stepmother Natsuko, a woman who bears a striking resemblance to the boy's mother. As he tries to adjust, this strange new world grows even stranger following the appearance of a persistent gray heron, who perplexes and bedevils Mahito, dubbing him the "long-awaited one."
Spirited Away: Live on Stage
Original Music Composer
The gorgeous Spirited Away stage play is getting a theatrical release from GKids. The movie version of the play was filmed during the production’s 2022 run at the Imperial Theatre in Tokyo. Based on the critically-acclaimed Studio Ghibli film of the same name, Spirited Away tells the story of a young girl named Chihiro who finds herself trapped in a mysterious bath house inhabited by spirits; her parents have also been sucked into the spirit world, and so Chihiro must save them (and herself) and return to the human world. The stage production uses puppets and practical effects to recreate the movie’s iconic characters and beautiful visuals.
Joe Hisaishi in Concert: Paris Philharmonie
Music
Japanese pianist and composer Joe Hisaishi conducts the Orchestre Philharmonique de Strasbourg at the Philharmonie de Paris, performing his Symphony No. 2, an arrangement of a piece from Ponyo (2008) and a symphonic suite based on the score of Princess Mononoke (1997), two iconic and acclaimed films by Hayao Miyazaki.
Joe Hisaishi in Concert: Paris Philharmonie
Musician
Japanese pianist and composer Joe Hisaishi conducts the Orchestre Philharmonique de Strasbourg at the Philharmonie de Paris, performing his Symphony No. 2, an arrangement of a piece from Ponyo (2008) and a symphonic suite based on the score of Princess Mononoke (1997), two iconic and acclaimed films by Hayao Miyazaki.
Joe Hisaishi in Concert: Paris Philharmonie
Conductor
Japanese pianist and composer Joe Hisaishi conducts the Orchestre Philharmonique de Strasbourg at the Philharmonie de Paris, performing his Symphony No. 2, an arrangement of a piece from Ponyo (2008) and a symphonic suite based on the score of Princess Mononoke (1997), two iconic and acclaimed films by Hayao Miyazaki.
Joe Hisaishi in Concert: Paris Philharmonie
Self - Conductor
Japanese pianist and composer Joe Hisaishi conducts the Orchestre Philharmonique de Strasbourg at the Philharmonie de Paris, performing his Symphony No. 2, an arrangement of a piece from Ponyo (2008) and a symphonic suite based on the score of Princess Mononoke (1997), two iconic and acclaimed films by Hayao Miyazaki.
Dear Alice
Music
What if we created a future for ourselves that was full of optimism and positivity? “Dear Alice” is a love letter from a grandmother to a granddaughter and an optimistic vision of the future of farming. It’s a nostalgic look towards a new era of agriculture, with beautifully crafted backgrounds, delicate animation and a completely unique score by long-time Ghibli composer (and absolute legend) Joe Hisaishi. (Yeah, we can’t believe this happened either). It’s not a perfect utopia, but a version of a future we can all reach if we just decide to put in the work.
コンサート2021 in ザ・シンフォニーホール
A Summer Trip
Original Music Composer
It is the run-up to the 2008 Beijing Olympics but in one small town in southern China ZHANG Dachuan, a veteran of the 1950s Korean war, is either lost in memories or picking up after his son’s family since they are too busy with work to pay much attention to their home and even their own son Xiaosong, a westernised kid who is entering his difficult teen years. When Dachaun is invited to attend the funeral of an old comrade-in-arms, he secretly decides to journey to Beijing. And Xiaosong invites himself on the trip to avoid studying… And so starts a memorable experience for an old man and his grandson who hit the road and experience a clash of generations and values in various laughter-filled misadventures where one prefers old-fashioned values and the other modern conveniences. As our two travelling companions enjoy the beauty of the landscape they learn lessons in filial piety and loyalty that will bring them together.
NiNoKuni
Original Music Composer
Adapted from the video game series of the same name, NiNoKuni follows high school peers Yuu and Haru who must travel between two separate yet parallel worlds to help save their childhood friend, Kotona, whose life is in danger. In this magical quest complicated by love, the three teens will be tasked with making the ultimate choice.
Children of the Sea
Original Music Composer
Ruka is a young girl whose parents are separated and whose father works in an aquarium. When two boys, Umi and Sora, who were raised in the sea by dugongs, are brought to the aquarium, Ruka feels drawn to them and begins to realize that she has the same sort of supernatural connection to the ocean that they do. Umi and Sora's special power seems to be connected to strange events that have been occurring more and more frequently, such as the appearance of sea creatures far from their home territory and the disappearance of aquarium animals around the world. However, the exact nature of the boys' power and of the abnormal events is unknown, and Ruka gets drawn into investigating the mystery that surrounds her new friends.
The Songs of Studio Ghibli
Self
This program will give you an up-close look at some of the studio’s most famous films along with the music of STUDIO GHIBLI that continues to have multi-generational appeal. Songs are performed by popular J-pop stars and artists who have worked with STUDIO GHIBLI over the years. Treat yourself to fun and moving performances that pay homage to your favorite STUDIO GHIBLI films, hear rare stories about Hayao Miyazaki, and learn about the history of Isao Takahata and how he became one of Japan’s greatest treasures. Filmed at Hiroshima Prefectural Art Museum’s Ghibli Expo -From Nausicaä to Marnie- exhibition, this 45-minute program is jam-packed with the magic of STUDIO GHIBLI, including famous scenes from your favorite STUDIO GHIBLI works.
What a Wonderful Family! 3
Original Music Composer
At the Hirata home, three generations of their family live together. A crisis ensues when one afternoon, housewife Fumie falls asleep and wakes up to find a thief has stolen her secret money she kept hidden in the refrigerator.
Boro the Caterpillar
Original Music Composer
Just before dawn, Boro the Caterpillar hatched from an egg among patches of scrub grass. Looking around for the first time, he noticed the brilliance of the morning sun and a deliciousness in the air. Boro lowered himself down to the ground from the groundsel, and stepped out into the world of caterpillars and caterpillars' enemies.
Till the End of the World
Original Music Composer
The unlikely pairing of a spoiled millionaire venture capitalist scouting for extreme wedding tour locations and a grounded science photographer en route to chronicle the Aurora Australis lights face the ultimate 75 day test for survival and redemption after their twin engine craft crashes during a debilitating snowstorm over the vast desolate nether-regions of Antarctica.
Joe Hisaishi Symphonic Concert: Music from the Studio Ghibli Films of Hayao Miyazaki
Self
The music of iconic Studio Ghibli films featuring Joe Hisaishi’s celebrated scores will be performed live by the Paris-based symphony orchestra and choir Orchestre et Chœur Lamoureux at two concerts in June 2017 at the Palais des Congrès de Paris. With its international premiere, JOE HISAISHI SYMPHONIC CONCERT: MUSIC FROM THE STUDIO GHIBLI FILMS OF HAYAO MIYAZAKI explores the collaborative relationship between music and storytelling, blending music and visuals to celebrate the long partnership between Joe Hisaishi and Academy Award-winner Hayao Miyazaki (2002 Animated Feature Film for Spirited Away and 2014 Honorary Award).
What a Wonderful Family! 2
Original Music Composer
Several years after Shuzo settled his wife’s birthday-surprise divorce proposal (What a Wonderful Family, 40th), the Hirata family faces new problems. Ignoring his family’s worry that he is too old to drive, Shuzo takes his old schoolmate for a spin after carousing. Soon, a new disturbance arises for the Hirata family. Veteran director Yamada Yoji continues his comedy about the “perfect“ Japanese family turned upside down in chaos, laughters and understanding. This time, with an additional taste of death.
What a Wonderful Family!
Original Music Composer
A husband and wife have been married for 50 years. For her birthday, the husband asks the wife what she wants for her birthday present. She replies that she wants a divorce. The wife's divorce announcement sends the entire family into chaos.
Those of the Treetops and Heaven
Music
A young boy, living in a village on a giant tree, falls into the depths of the forest where he meets two indigenous beings who will help him return home.
Isao Takahata and His Tale of the Princess Kaguya
Self
For his first film in fourteen years animation director Isao Takahata embarked on a visually sumptuous adaptation of "The Tale of the Princess Kaguya". A dream project for the director that would hopefully establish the recently formed Ghibli Studio 7, created to meet the demands of a new type of modern animation process. But almost immediately the epic production is faced with difficulties and falls dramatically behind schedule. In this compelling and insightful documentary we follow Isao Takahata and his dedicated team of artists as they frantically strive against adversity to make their vision a reality and bring Studio Ghibli into a new Era.
Snow on The Blades
Original Music Composer
At Sakurada Gate in 1860, the shogun’s chief minister and his retinue of bodyguards are ambushed and annihilated. Bearing the responsibility and shame for this failure is Shimura Kingo, master swordsman and chief of the guard. Forbidden to take his own life in atonement, he is instead tasked with hunting down the remaining assassins; however, fate intervenes and now only one is left. Devoted to his late lord and his duty, he relentlessly pursues the sole remaining assassin for the next thirteen years. But times are changing in Japan and the way of the sword has become outlawed. What does this mean for Kingo?
The Little House
Original Music Composer
Following the death of the unmarried and childless Taki, Takeshi, a young relative of hers, discovers several pages of closely written lines in which the old lady has recorded her memories. This is how he learns the truth about her youth working as a housemaid and nanny for the Hirai family in a little house in Tokyo with a red gabled roof.
The Tale of The Princess Kaguya
Original Music Composer
Found inside a shining stalk of bamboo by an old bamboo cutter and his wife, a tiny girl grows rapidly into an exquisite young lady. The mysterious young princess enthrals all who encounter her. But, ultimately, she must confront her fate.
The Kingdom of Dreams and Madness
Self
Follows the behind-the-scenes work of Studio Ghibli, focusing on the notable figures Hayao Miyazaki, Isao Takahata, and Toshio Suzuki.
Miracle Apples
Original Music Composer
Akinori Kimura (Sadao Abe) and his wife Mieko (Miho Kanno) opens an apple orchard in their hometown of Hirosaki in Aomori Prefecture. Due to Meiko's allergic reaction to pesticides, Akinori Kimura has to grow his apples without the aid of chemicals. Because of this challenge, his family endures hardships and suffers severe financial difficulties. Akinori Kimura even contemplates suicide. A miracle then happens...
Legends of the Deep: The Giant Squid
Music
The giant squid is a creature of legend and myth which, even in the 21st century, has never been seen alive. But now, an international team of scientists thinks it has finally found its lair, 1,000 metres down, off the coast of Japan. This is the culmination of decades of research. The team deploys underwater robots and state-of-the-art submersible vessels for a world first - to find and film the impossible.
Tokyo Family
Original Music Composer
An aging couple decide to leave their quiet lives in the country to pay a visit to their children and grandchildren in Tokyo. Once there, they discover that neither their oldest son, a doctor named Koichi, nor their eldest daughter Shigeko - who runs a beauty parlour - has time for them: both are too busy attending to their everyday concerns. Even the youngest son went his own way. The old couple feel lonely and bewildered in the fast-paced metropolis.
Sweetheart Chocolate
Music
The movie features a tragic love story involving three main characters and spanning two decades. Lin plays an exchange student from Shanghai named Yue Lin. Ikeuchi plays a ski patrol member she meets in Yubari, Hokkaido.
Tenchi: The Samurai Astronomer
Original Music Composer
A chronicle of the life of Yasui Santetsu, a 17th century master of go who turned his attention to astronomy and created a new calendar for Japan. Based on the life of Santetsu Yasui (December 27, 1639-November 1, 1715), appointed as the first official astronomer in the Edo Period and would go on to create the Jokyo calendar at the imperial request.
Casting Blossoms to the Sky
Original Music Composer
In 2011, a journalist arrives in Nagaoka, a Japanese village that underwent destruction during both World War II and the 2004 Chūetsu earthquakes, and is now notable for the fireworks it launches annually in memory of the victims of war. She is there for two reasons: firstly, to learn about the experiences of Nagaoka's inhabitants, and secondly, to watch a stage play written by an enigmatic student of her ex-boyfriend, which depicts the bombing of the city during WWII.
Rest on Your Shoulder
Original Music Composer
In an unspecified time when epidemics run rampant, botanist Yan Guo and his fiance-assistant Baobao move to Moon Island, a nature reserve, to research the curing properties of rare plants. As is customary, they pray to the magical Eros Tree to cement their love, unaware that they have to undergo a severe trial, in which Baobao must remain unseen to Yan for three years in exchange for his life.
Let the Bullets Fly
Original Music Composer
When circumstances force an outlaw to impersonate a county governor and clean up a corrupt town, the Robin Hood figure finds himself in a showdown with the local godfather.
Mr. Dough and the Egg Princess
Original Music Composer
The story of a tiny Egg-girl who is forced to serve the evil Boar-like witch Baba Yaga. But after a blob of Dough comes to life, she befriends him and both escape from the witch's home at a Water mill on a cliff and set off to see the world. The soundtrack is Joe Hisaishi's arrangement of Vivaldi's La Folia
Villain
Original Music Composer
Shimizu Yuichi is a shy and lonely day laborer looking for love. He aimlessly spends time corresponding with girls via telephone dating services and going on random encounters with girls looking for spending cash. His world is shattered one day when he is involved in the murder of one of his former encounters, the sweet-faced Ishibashi Yoshino who, after being jilted by playboy Masuo Keijo, berates and mocks the troubled loner.
Ocean Heaven
Original Music Composer
The story of a father's tireless love for his autistic son. A terminally ill father's attempt to teach his autistic son the necessary life skills to survive on his own before he passes away. It is also a poignant tribute to the infinite love that parents have for their children and their unending desire to take care and look after them to their best abilities, no matter the struggle, no matter the effort.
A Tale of Ululu's Wonderful Forest
Original Music Composer
A brother and sister leave the big city to live with their veterinarian father when their mother is hospitalized. As they are adjusting to their new life filled with natural beauty, they adopt an abandoned puppy. When it is discovered that the puppy is actually a wolf, they choose to return the baby wolf to its mother in the forest rather than let it live a life in captivity.
Joe Hisaishi in Budokan - Making of the Concert: The Big Screen
Joe Hisaishi in Budokan - Making of the Concert: The Big Screen
Sunny and the Elephant
Original Music Composer
The story of a young city boy wanting to become the mahout, the elephant driver. Despite his master's belief that only karen tribe people are born to be mahouts, the lad finally wins his heart and becomes a real mahout.
I Want to Be a Shellfish
Original Music Composer
1944, in the depths of World War II. Toyomatsu Shimizu is a completely typical barber from a remote sea-side town who lives frugally but happily with his wife Fusae and their five-year-old son. Eventually, though, the army beckons and he is drafted. One day an officer on the battle-field orders him to kill a captive U.S. soldier. Although Toyomatsu lacks the spirit to kill the man, and only wounds him in the arm, the victorious U.S. soldiers will not accept this, and Toyomatsu is arrested and tried as a war-criminal. And he receives the cruelest sentence possible...
Departures
Original Music Composer
Daigo, a cellist, is laid off from his orchestra and moves with his wife back to his small hometown where the living is cheaper. Thinking he’s applying for a job at a travel agency he finds he’s being interviewed for work with departures of a more permanent nature – as an undertaker’s assistant.
25th Anniversary Studio Ghibli Concert
Music Arranger
Concert held on August 4, 5 and 6, 2008 at the Nippon Budōkan hall in Tokyo to commemorate both the Japanese theatrical release of Ponyo (2008) and the 25 years of musical collaboration between composer Joe Hisaishi and filmmaker Hayao Miyazaki.
25th Anniversary Studio Ghibli Concert
Conductor
Concert held on August 4, 5 and 6, 2008 at the Nippon Budōkan hall in Tokyo to commemorate both the Japanese theatrical release of Ponyo (2008) and the 25 years of musical collaboration between composer Joe Hisaishi and filmmaker Hayao Miyazaki.
25th Anniversary Studio Ghibli Concert
Music
Concert held on August 4, 5 and 6, 2008 at the Nippon Budōkan hall in Tokyo to commemorate both the Japanese theatrical release of Ponyo (2008) and the 25 years of musical collaboration between composer Joe Hisaishi and filmmaker Hayao Miyazaki.
25th Anniversary Studio Ghibli Concert
Self - Conductor
Concert held on August 4, 5 and 6, 2008 at the Nippon Budōkan hall in Tokyo to commemorate both the Japanese theatrical release of Ponyo (2008) and the 25 years of musical collaboration between composer Joe Hisaishi and filmmaker Hayao Miyazaki.
Ponyo
Original Music Composer
When Sosuke, a young boy who lives on a clifftop overlooking the sea, rescues a stranded goldfish named Ponyo, he discovers more than he bargained for. Ponyo is a curious, energetic young creature who yearns to be human, but even as she causes chaos around the house, her father, a powerful sorcerer, schemes to return Ponyo to the sea.
A Tale of Mari and Three Puppies
Original Music Composer
The touching and dramatic tale of the relationship between a Japanese family, their dog and her three puppies, set against the backdrop of a devastating earthquake and the ensuing chaos, rescues and heroism.
The Sun Also Rises
Original Music Composer
A polyptych of interconnected stories in different time-zones, shifting between a Yunnan village, a campus, and the Gobi Desert.
The Postmodern Life of My Aunt
Original Music Composer
Ye Rutang (Siqin Gaowa), a single-living woman in her late fifties, struggles to maintain a dignified life amid the dangers of Shanghai.
A Chinese Tall Story
Original Music Composer
The young monk Taka and his three disciples are captured by a demonic tree. Taka manages to escape thanks to the magic stick of Monkey King and decided to go free his companions. En route, he encounters a strange ally called Meiyan, a girl who is half-human and half monster. As Taka and his new friend set off on a fantastic adventure they will face many hardships and battles and may very well decide the fate of humanity and the entire universe...
Yamato
Original Music Composer
Directed by Junya Sato and based on a book by Jun Henmi, "Yamato" has a framing story set in the present day and uses flashbacks to tell the story of the crew of the World War II Japanese battleship Yamato. The film was never released in the United States, where reviewers who have seen it have compared the military epic to "Titanic" and "Saving Private Ryan."
A Wish to the Moon: Joe Hisaishi & 9 Cellos 2003 Etude & Encore Tour
Self
Joe Hisaishi will handle a variety of film music, this simple structure of 9 Cello and piano, the concert live recording made at the Tokyo Opera City. Album "ENCORE" "ETUDE ~ a Wish to the Moon" was presented to the best live songs from the heart Joe Hisaishi from the concert tour was held in March 2003, recording the concert was held at Tokyo Opera City on April 16.
Welcome to Dongmakgol
Original Music Composer
Based on the long running play by Jang Jin, the story is set in Korea during the Korean War in 1950. Soldiers from both the North and South, as well as an American pilot, find themselves in a secluded and naively idealistic village, its residents unaware of the outside world, including the war.
Ghibli and The Miyazaki Mystery
Self - Interviewee
Studio Ghibli is Japan's most successful animation studio, with helmers Hayao Miyazaki ("Spirited Away," "My Neighbor Totoro") and Isao Takahata ("Grave of The Fireflies," "The Tale of Princess Kaguya") creating a bonanza for producer/prexy Toshio Suzuki. Generously adorned with clips from their films and their influences, the docu follows Ghibli's arc from a mid-'60s rebellion against working conditions at Toei Co. to its present powerhouse position, complete with public fun park. All interviews are illuminating, but Miyazaki is teasingly confined to pic's tete-a-tete finale with esteemed French comic artist Jean "Moebius" Giraud. Meeting of the wizened European, whose imprint is on films from "Blade Runner" to "The Fifth Element," and the apparently relaxed Nipponese helmer makes an interesting contrast, and will be of special interest to Francophiles. All credits are impeccable
Howl's Moving Castle
Original Music Composer
Sophie, a young milliner, is turned into an elderly woman by a witch who enters her shop and curses her. She encounters a wizard named Howl and gets caught up in his resistance to fighting for the king.
When the Last Sword Is Drawn
Original Music Composer
Kanichiro Yoshimura is a Samurai and Family man who can no longer support his wife and children on the the low pay he receives from his small town clan, he is forced by the love for his family to leave for the city in search of higher pay to support them.
Dolls
Original Music Composer
Dolls takes puppeteering as its overriding motif, which relates thematically to the action provided by the live characters. Chief among those tales is the story of Matsumoto and Sawako, a young couple whose relationship is about to be broken apart by the former's parents, who have insisted their son take part in an arranged marriage to his boss' daughter.
Original Music Composer
The Invention of Imaginary Machines of Destruction
Original Music Composer
Kusoh no kikai-tachi no naka no hakai no hatsumei is an animated short wirtten and directed by Hideaki Anno and produced by Studio Ghibli. It's a Ghibli Museum exclusive.
Imaginary Flying Machines
Original Music Composer
Kuso no Sora Tobu Kikaitachi (Imaginary Flying Machines) is a 2002 Japanese animated short film produced by Studio Ghibli for their near exclusive use in the Ghibli Museum. It features director Hayao Miyazaki as the narrator, in the form of a humanoid pig, reminiscent of Porco from Porco Rosso, telling the story of flight and the many machines imagined to achieve it.
Mei and the Kittenbus
Original Music Composer
Mei has an adventure with a Kittenbus and her relatives. Totoro appears.
Tom Thumb
Music
Poucet is a kid from a family of numerous children. The parents, too poor to feed them, decide to abandon them in the forest. Their, the brothers try to find their way out making fantastic encounters. This film is based on the French fairy tale "Le petit poucet" by Charles Perrault.
Quartet
Screenplay
"Quartet" tells the story of four young musicians as they form a string quartet and pursue fame.
Quartet
Original Music Composer
"Quartet" tells the story of four young musicians as they form a string quartet and pursue fame.
Quartet
Director
"Quartet" tells the story of four young musicians as they form a string quartet and pursue fame.
Spirited Away
Original Music Composer
A young girl, Chihiro, becomes trapped in a strange new world of spirits. When her parents undergo a mysterious transformation, she must call upon the courage she never knew she had to free her family.
Brother
Original Music Composer
A Japanese Yakuza gangster’s deadly existence in his homeland gets him exiled to Los Angeles, where he is taken in by his little brother and his brother’s gang.
Scenes by the Sea: Takeshi Kitano
First major English-language documentary profile of the cult Japanese actor/director, Takeshi Kitano. Featuring interviews with many of his regular contributors and colleagues, the film explores Kitano's rise from working-class poverty to superstar of Japanese radio, TV, comedy and journalism, and follows the making of his US-Japanese gangster film, 'Brother'.
As the River Flows
Music
2000 live-action Japanese film.
First Love
Original Music Composer
This coming-of-age story from Japan opens just after 17-year-old Sataka has gotten dumped by her boyfriend. When her mother is hospitalized with a malignant stomach ulcer, Sataka is left alone with her emotionally repressed father; whiling away the hours one day, she comes across a love letter written to her mother 24 years earlier. Deciding to track down the letter's author, Sataka eventually finds Shinichiro (Hiroyuki Sanada), an overweight slob who was abandoned by his wife years earlier and now spends his time hanging around pachinko parlors. Determined to clean him up and reintroduce him to her mother, Sataka nags Shinchiro until he finally agrees to her demands, and a gradual friendship develops between the two as Sataka drags him to the gym and a clothing store. But once Shinchiro's makeover is complete, he turns the tables on his young friend, and when the time comes for him to meet Sataka's mother, all concerned parties find themselves embarking on a new phase in their lives.
Kikujiro
Original Music Composer
Brash, loudmouthed and opportunistic, Kikujiro is the unlikely companion for Masao who is determined to see the mother he has never met. The two begin a series of adventures which soon turns out to be a whimsical journey of laughter and tears with a wide array of surprises and unique characters along the way.
Diary of Early Winter Shower
Original Music Composer
Takanosuke Ushio and Tae Horikawa are unable to forget each other, even though they met and fell in love 20 years ago. They had promised each other that they would build a retreat in Shiguretei, but Ushio was hospitalized after a stroke a few days later, and when his wife, Takako, rushed to the hospital, she discovered their love affair, which in reality had not gone beyond kissing. Now, 20 years later, against the advice of her ikebana mentor, Tae rushes to meet Ushio at Shiguretei, only to see him clutching his chest in pain. Eventually, the design and plans for the dream retreat are seen by Tae, but she has to visit Kyoto alone... or maybe she's heading for somewhere else.
The Birth of Princess Mononoke
Self
Mononoke Hime wa koushite umareta, also known as The Making of "Princess Mononoke", is a three-tape VHS video boxed set (total length 6 hours 40 minutes) released in Japan at the end of 1997. Re-released on DVD
Fireworks
Original Music Composer
Detective Nishi is relieved from a stakeout to visit his sick wife in hospital. He is informed that she is terminally ill, and is advised to take her home. During his visit, a suspect shoots one detective dead and leaves Nishi's partner, Horibe, paralyzed. Nishi leaves the police force to spend time with his wife at home, and must find a way to pay off his debts to the yakuza.
Princess Mononoke
Original Music Composer
Ashitaka, a prince of the disappearing Emishi people, is cursed by a demonized boar god and must journey to the west to find a cure. Along the way, he encounters San, a young human woman fighting to protect the forest, and Lady Eboshi, who is trying to destroy it. Ashitaka must find a way to bring balance to this conflict.
Parasite Eve
Original Music Composer
Toshiaki Nagashima is a biologist who is doing major research on mitochondria. When his beautiful young wife is tragically involved in a car accident which leaves her brain dead, in desperation he steals her liver from her body in order to recieve the mitochondria from it to resurrect his wife from the dead. The killer mitochondria takes the form of his assistant.
Kids Return
Original Music Composer
Shinji and Masaru spend most of their school days harassing fellow classmates and playing pranks. They drop out and Shinji becomes a small-time boxer, while Masaru joins up with a local yakuza gang. However, the world is a tough place.
Turning Point
Original Music Composer
A middle-aged journalist looking to make her big break. After working the same beat on the "women's page", Yumiko gets promoted to editorials.
Samurai Kids
Original Music Composer
A special effects filled fantasy adventure, in which an 8 year old boy encounters an ancient samurai warrior who is only six inches tall.
Sonatine
Original Music Composer
A Japanese mobster attempts to even the score when he realizes he and his lackeys have been pawns in a lethal game.
Haruka, Nostalgia
Original Music Composer
Ayase Shinsuke, a popular writer of a series of girl novels, visits Otaru, the town he grew up in. He meets a strange boy who calls himself by the author's real name.
The Rocking Horsemen
Original Music Composer
It is 1965. High-school student Takeyoshi Fujiwara hears "Pipeline" by the Ventures, and is mesmerized by their unique sound. With three friends, he forms a band called "The Rocking Horsemen." A warm and comic glimpse into high-school and small-town life in Japan in the 60's.
Porco Rosso
Original Music Composer
In Italy in the 1930s, sky pirates in biplanes terrorize wealthy cruise ships as they sail the Adriatic Sea. The only pilot brave enough to stop the scourge is the mysterious Porco Rosso, a former World War I flying ace who was somehow turned into a pig during the war. As he prepares to battle the pirate crew's American ace, Porco Rosso enlists the help of spunky girl mechanic Fio Piccolo and his longtime friend Madame Gina.
A Scene at the Sea
Original Music Composer
The lives of a young, hearing-impaired and gloomy couple are fulfilled after the boy holds interest in surfboarding.
Fukuzawa Yukichi
Original Music Composer
Fukuzawa Yukichi opens a school for samurai, who aim to learn Dutch language, most common for overseas trading. But when he was in Yokohama he learned that English language is one way more global one. His struggle against patriarchal mindset leads his school to become one of the oldest universities in Japan.
Chizuko's Younger Sister
Original Music Composer
The Kitao family is coping with the loss of the eldest daughter, Chizuko, who was killed in a freak accident the year prior. When the other daughter Mika is suddenly in a dangerous situation, Chizuko returns as a ghost to save her; reunited with her sister, Mika begins spending time with Chizuko again.
Deer Friend
Music
Tasmania Story
Music
Eiji Kawano (Kunie Tanaka) has recently broken from the Japanese company he used to work for. As an immigrant to Tasmania, he has been won over by the island's immense natural beauty, and he is conscience-bound to oppose his former employer's ecologically unsound practices. He is also estranged from his grown son, who still resides in Japan. When his son comes to Tasmania for a visit, he must face the challenge of renewing their relationship.
Network Baby
Music
A grieving young mother employed at a video game company is recruited to test and train a new virtual world. She finds a character in this world of fantasy who becomes her new albeit virtual daughter.
Kiki's Delivery Service
Original Music Composer
A young witch, on her mandatory year of independent life, finds fitting into a new community difficult while she supports herself by running an air courier service.
Venus Wars
Original Music Composer
The new frontier of Venus has degenerated into a dystopia ravaged by the civil war between Ishtar and Aphrodia. Bubbly reporter Susan Sommers arrives in the capitol of Aphrodia just before it's captured by Ishtar. She falls in with a bunch of teen-agers who live for a sort of motorcycle version of Roller Derby. Daredevil rider Hiro and his friends reluctantly join the struggle to free Aphrodia from the invaders. Not surprisingly, Hiro proves an ace at piloting the mono-cycles that are the Aphrodians' secret weapon in the key battle.
Green Requiem
Music
Those Swell Yakuza
Original Music Composer
Ryo, a young former banker, gets beaten up over a debt from gambling. A yakuza boss saves him, and Ryo decides to train to become a yakuza under him.
My Neighbor Totoro
Original Music Composer
Two sisters move to the country with their father in order to be closer to their hospitalized mother, and discover the surrounding trees are inhabited by Totoros, magical spirits of the forest. When the youngest runs away from home, the older sister seeks help from the spirits to find her.
This Story of Love
Original Music Composer
Life and love stories of stunt men and women.
Robot Carnival
Music
An anthology of various tales told in various styles with robots being the one common element among them.
The Drifting Classroom
Original Music Composer
An entire Japanese international grade school—and all within—are mysteriously transported to a foreboding desert wasteland. As the story unfolds, the diminishing student body weathers this apocalyptic crisis while searching for clues about their surroundings, and dealing with psychological breakdown and dangerous exterior forces.
Lover's Time
Original Music Composer
Maison Ikkoku - Apartment Fantasy
Original Music Composer
Travel into Japan's nuttiest apartment house and meet its volatile inhabitants: Kyoko, the beautiful and mysterious new apartment manager; Yusaku, the exam-addled college student; Mrs. Ichinose, the drunken gossip; Kentaro, her bratty son; Akemi, the boozy bar hostess; and the mooching and peeping Mr. Yotsuya.
Castle in the Sky
Original Music Composer
A young boy and a girl with a magic crystal must race against pirates and foreign agents in a search for a legendary floating castle.
Atami Murder Case
Original Music Composer
Chief Detective KIMURA Denbei, fondly referred to as Smoky Denbei, is a legendary figure at the Metropolitan Police Department. Transferred to Denbei's Criminal Investigation Division 1, Detective KUMADA Tomekichi arrives from the Toyama Prefectural Police. KUMADA is disconcerted by Denbei's position that murderers nowadays do not need a plausible motive, but gradually adapts to Denbei's unusual methods of investigation.
Arion
Original Music Composer
The story follows Arion, a young man kidnapped by Hades as a child and raised to believe that his mother was blinded by Zeus and that killing the ruler of Mount Olympus will cure her.
Spring Bell
Music
Narumi Rokuheita and his wife Noriko spend their lives separated. Soon they start looking for love elsewhere.
Early Spring Story
Music
A university student Hitomi falls in love with a middle-aged man Okawa, who was the lover of her deceased mother. Hitomi's feelings shift back and forth as she is not sure whether it is true love or just a realization of her mother's romantic dream...
Warriors of the Wind
Original Music Composer
Often credited as the reason for Studio Ghibli's strict "no cuts" policy for international releases of their works, Warriors of the Wind is a heavily-edited American version of Hayao Miyazaki's 1984 film Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind. In order to market the film as family-friendly, approximately 22 minutes of the original film are cut out in this version, resulting in a thoroughly altered story. Much of the original cast of characters are also renamed, including Nausicaä, who is in this version called Princess Zandra.
The Tragedy of
Original Music Composer
A young girl is striving for stardom. In order to get a lead role in a new production, she agrees to stand-in for a famous star whose rich patron died in her arms one night. The real-life drama gradually comes to mirror the story of the play being performed by her.
Birth
Original Music Composer
Life on apocalypse Aqualoid proceeds humorously and grandiosely; Nam's new sword starts attracting aggressive Inorganics, however, endangering him, Rasa, friends and the whole planet.
The Wizard of Oz
Music
An animated version of the classic story of a young farm-girl who is transported to the magical land of Oz.
Techno Police 21C
Music
The year is 2001 and the criminals have taken over Centinel City. The Police have lost control. The citizens are terrified... and no one can stop the madness. Even the Techno Police, a special anti-crime squad, find the situation hopeless until a wise cracking cop with an uncanny knack for out-guessing the criminals joins the force. When a powerful experiment tank is hijacked, the Techno Police and their newest recruit go to work. Equipped with an ultra-sonic car and crime-fighting Technoids, the rookie cop sets out on a death defying high-speed chase through the streets... trying to capture the crooks and trying to stay alive. But no one is aware of the awesome powers about to be unleashed.
Two Down Full Base
Music
Based on the children's book by Sunada Hiroshi. Musuke "Shorty" Sato is a shortstop for the local junior baseball team, the Eggs, who is asked by his mother to look after some money for her. He foolishly lends it to Tower and Dump, the school bad-boys, and must enlist the help of the pitcher's pretty little sister.