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Ghibli Composer Joe Hisaishi Inducted Into Order of the Rising Sun
posted on by Anita Tai
The Japanese government honored composer Joe Hisaishi (Spirited Away, Nausicaä, My Neighbor Totoro) with the Order of the Rising Sun Award, Gold Rays with Rosette for his significant contributions to the country on Friday. The Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications revealed the honorees of the annual Autumn Conferment of Decorations on its website, where Hisaishi was listed with 1,914 other civilian recipients among the 4,076 Japanese citizens and 103 foreigners.
The ministry will hold a ceremony celebrating the awards on November 10 in Tokyo, with individual ceremonies for contributions to local government held in the respective prefectures.
The Japanese government awarded the composer with the Medal of Honor in 2010. Hisaishi was also awarded his sixth Japanese Academy Award for "Best Music" the same year.
Joe Hisaishi has composed the scores for all of Hayao Miyazaki's films from Nausicaä of the Valley of Wind onwards. He also composed the score for Isao Takahata's film The Tale of the Princess Kaguya, and was the executive producer of the stage version of My Neighbor Totoro at London's Barbican Centre in 2022.
Hisaishi has toured Paris, Melbourne, Los Angeles, New York, and other cities for his "Joe Hisaishi Symphonic Concert: Music from the Studio Ghibli Films of Hayao Miyazaki" in 2017. He is currently touring across the globe. He has collaborated with artists such as Philip Glass, David Lang, and Mischa Minsky, as well as the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra, Taiwan National Symphony Orchestra, London Symphony Orchestra, Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, and American Symphony Orchestra in the past.
Sources: Jiji.com, Crunchyroll (Mikikazu Komatsu), Joe Hisaishi's website
