Joe Hisaishi's Musical Contributions to Hayao Miyazaki's Animated Worlds

Joe Hisaishi’s musical contributions to Hayao Miyazaki’s

Animated Worlds

A Division III Project

James Scaramuzzino

1 Hayao Miyazaki, a Japanese film director, producer, writer, and animator, has quickly become known for some of the most iconic animated films of the late twentieth to early twenty first century. His imaginative movies are known for fusing modern elements with traditional Japanese folklore in order to explore questions of change, growth, love, and home. His movies however, would, not be what they are today without the partnership he formed early in his career with Mamoru Fujisawa a music composer who goes by the professional name of Joe Hisaishi.

Their partnership formed while Hayao Miyazaki was searching for a composer to score his second animated feature film Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (1984). Hi- saishi had an impressive resume having graduated from Kunitachi College of Music, in addition to studying directly under the famous film composer Masaru Sato who is known for the music in Seven Samurai and early Godzilla films. Hisaishi’s second album, titled

Information caught the attention of Miyazaki, and Hisaishi was hired to score Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (1984). With its huge success consequently every other prominent movie of Miyazaki’s since. (Koizumi, Kyoko. 2010)

Hisaishi’s minimalistic yet evocative melodies paired with Miyazaki’s creative im- agery and stories proved to be an incredible partnership and many films of theirs have been critically acclaimed, such as Princess Mononoke (1997), which was the first animated film to win Picture of the Year at the Japanese Academy Awards; or Spirited

Away (2001), which was the ﬁrst anime ﬁlm to win an American Academy Award.

So why are these movies so compelling? Why have they captured the hearts of a worldwide audience? The animation and stories that are told are very beautiful, however

I believe an often overlooked aspect of these ﬁlms is the music, and the overall at-

2 mosphere of the animated world that the score helps to create. Therefore I have set out to analyze Joe Hisaishi’s musical contributions to Hayao Miyazaki’s animated ﬁlms. To do so I will take a look at some of their most celebrated pieces: Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (1984), Princess Mononoke (1997), and Spirited Away (2001). I chose these three ﬁlms because the stories are all relatively similar, in that something happens which forces the protagonist on a journey to rebalance the world. Because the stories are similar, the use of thematic music material is relatively similar as well. By looking into these examples we can start to gain a better understanding of Hisaishi’s role in cre- ating these rich atmospheres. Some common elements that we will be looking at are

Hisaishi’s use of thematic transformation, instrumentation, stylistic approaches, and a melodic analysis of repeated themes.

Princess Mononoke (1997)

This film follows Ashitaka, a prince of a small tribe called the Imishi. One day his village gets invaded by a demon from a far off land, which curses Ashitaka to die a slow painful death. In order to find a cure Ashitaka leaves his tribe to find the great forest spirit, who is rumored to be able to save him. But what Ashitaka finds on his journey is that this curse that he suffers from has been bred from a war that has been waging between humans and the forest, and that in order to cure himself he must first help resolve the conflicts in the world that are breeding this curse.

The story takes place in Feudal Japan, probably around the 16th or 17th century based on the presence of matchlock riﬂes, which were brought to Japan by European countries around 1549 (Baker, Mike Maikeru. 2016). This blending of cultures in the

3 world of the film is also reflected in the music, which mainly uses traditional Japanese melodies with traditional Western instrumentation. A significant amount of the music is written in a Dorian mode. There is also a heavy use of pentatonic movement which is a classic characteristic of traditional Japanese folk music. This collision of the Dorian mode, which was not commonly used in early Japan, with traditional Japanese folk melodies also adds another layer to the conflict that is appearing on screen (Koizumi,

Kyoko 2010). One could argue that the Western instrumentation is the standard ap- proach to ﬁlm composition and that this observation is digging too far, however I believe that the Western instrumentation is important to take note of because of the presence of traditional Japanese melodies and rhythms in almost every piece of music on the score.

This in turn makes the non-standard traditional instruments, such as those in a Western orchestra, stand out. Although Europeans are never present in the ﬁlm, you can see and hear their inﬂuence in almost every scene.

Similar to other Miyazaki / Hisaishi collaborations there is a theme that is introduced at the very beginning of the ﬁlm, (titled “The Legend Of Ashitaka”) which sets the scene for the entire world of the ﬁlm.

[Example #1: main melodic sequence from “The Legend Of Ashitaka”]

4 1

Melodic pieces of the theme in Example #1 are taken, and elaborated on in other pieces of music throughout the film. For example in the “Legend of Ashitaka” the melody played on a flute (which is shown above) from 1:27 - 1:39 also appears a bit later in the movie in the piece titled “The Journey to the West” from 0:58 - 1:06. That same melody can be heard later in the film in a track titled “The Land of the Impure” from 1:14 - 1:32. This bit of borrowing from the main theme can be heard in almost every track on the OST (Orig- inal Soundtrack), appearing in many different contexts and instrumentations.

Since this theme was introduced at the very beginning of the ﬁlm, it gives the audience member a sense of home, and when it appears in a context very far from home it produces an emotion of yearning for something unattainable. This feeling that this theme produces is a crucial element to understanding Ashitaka and his place in all of the conﬂicts in the animated world.

Additionally a sense of growth is created as we see and hear Ashitaka travel through all of these different environments, which makes the full return of Ashitaka’s theme in the middle of the movie so much more powerful. For example at 49:47 Ashita- ka is so frustrated by the constant ﬁghting of the humans and the forest who are refus- ing to listen to each other that he decides to put himself at risk and physically intervene, knocking both Lady Eboshi and Princess Mononoke unconscious and separating them.

This scene is so powerful because Ashitaka, whose musical theme has been struggling to be heard up until this point (besides at the beginning), only appearing faintly here and there, comes in at full volume and Ashitaka ﬁnally gains some control of the situation.

1 All transcriptions unless stated otherwise are transcribed by the present author, James Scara- muzzino.

5 The melody of this theme in Example #1 appears to be written in F natural minor until measure 4 when a D natural appears (the raised 6th scale degree of the natural minor scale which is the deﬁning note of the Dorian mode), and reveals that the melody is actually in F Dorian. This melody is written in a manner which resembles a traditional

Japanese folk tune, where melodic fragments or “words” are framed between two intervals a fourth apart. Fumio Koizumi, a scholar of traditional Japanese music, called these framework of fourths “nuclear tones”. In linguistics, “nuclear tones” refers to the sylla- bles at the beginning and end of a word. These intervals of fourths serve a central melodic function while the notes in between the “nuclear tones” function as leading tones, passing tones, upper or lower neighbor tones, etc. (Hughes, David W. 2008).

Below is an example of a Japanese Folk tune titled “Yama no Uta”

[Example #2: Yama no Uta]

[Transcription from “Traditional Folk Song In Modern Japan” pg. 135]

In this tune we can clearly see the movement of fourths all throughout this piece. In measure 1 the ﬁrst note A moves to a D in the second measure (this movement is not a direct fourth but displays the “nuclear tone” function), which immediately jumps up another fourth to a G. In measure 5 the fourth from G to D appears again this time de- scending, which leads us to an A in measure 7 (this is another example of a “nuclear

6 tone). Then up a fourth to a D, and then back down a fourth again to the A in measure 8

(also a “nuclear tone”) to close the phrase.

In the theme from Princess Mononoke, “The Legend of Ashitaka” (Example #1) this movement of fourths can be seen in almost every measure. For example: in measure 1, the intervals are a fourth followed by a ﬁfth, then in the next measure C moves down a fourth to a G (this is not a direct fourth but is an example of a “nuclear tone” and its function). Then in the third measure the ﬁrst note is another C which moves up this time to an F (another “nuclear tone”). And in the next measure an E moves down a fourth to a B (yet another “nuclear tone”), etc.

There are two pieces of music that feature vocals. Both are used to humanize the characters on each side of the conﬂict. For example when Ashitaka is visiting the iron town for the ﬁrst time and talks with Lady Eboshi, he becomes very annoyed at her and her people, and how they seem solely focused on driving the forest away. As he walks away from her frustrated and annoyed, he stumbles upon some of the women, who are singing as they work at the forge (43:00 - 44:00). The lyrics of this song were actually written by Miyazaki and they speak of how the work is hard and anyone could do it, but its going to improve the community. Below are the lyrics in Japanese and the english translation courtesy of (Ryoko Toyama. 2007)

Japanese

Hitotsu Futatsu wa Akago mo Fumuga

Mittsu Yottsu wa Oni mo Naku, Naku

Tatara Onna wa Kogane no Nasake

7 Tokete Nagarerya Yaiba ni Kawaru

English Translation (by Ryoko Toyama)

One, Two, even babies can push

Three, Four, even an ogre would cry[1]

The golden love of a Tatara woman

Melts and ﬂows, and changes into a blade.

As the women are singing, Ashitaka speaks with a few of them and learns that though this life is hard and isn’t perfect it’s actually an improvement compared what they’ve been through, and they are happy.

The next song appears at 1:18:15 - 1:21:41. These lyrics were also written by Miyaza- ki. This time it’s used to humanize the other side of the conﬂict, the side of Princess

Mononoke and the spirits. The lyrics are generally about feeling things that can’t be touched but only felt, and the mystery and serenity of life in this raw form. They also al- lude to a budding relationship between Princess Mononoke and Ashitaka. The lyrics below are courtesy of (Deborah Goldsmith and Ryoko Toyama. 2013)

Japanese

΅ΠͺΗ͵୙΄ ΋Ρ͞ΡୡΞ Haritsumeta yumi no Furueru tsuru yo ΁ͬΥΗͥ ͠Δ͞΄ஞط΄์ Tsuki no hikari ni zawameku Omae no Kokoro ᗦ͚ͭ΄ڒ ͵Δͫ΢ͯͤ; Togisumasareta Yaiba no utsukushi ͳ΄ͣ͹ͫͣ΁Ξͥ֒͵ ͳ΀͵΄ཞ氊

8 Sono kissaki ni yoku nita Sonata no Yokogao ఓͭΕ;ைΠ΁ΈͳΖ Δͩ;΄ஞΨ Kanashimi to ikari ni hisomu Makoto no Kokoro wo ᎣΡ΅ ༏΄ᔜ Shiru wa Mori no sei Θ΄΄ͧ͵ͷͶͧ Mononoke tachi dake Θ΄΄ͧ͵ͷͶͧ Mononoke tachi dake

English Translation (by Deborah Goldsmith and Ryoko Toyama)

The trembling string of a taut bow

Your Heart is unsettled by the Moonlight

The beauty of a sharp blade

Thy proﬁle, very much like its edge

Thy true heart hides behind the sorrow and anger

The spirits of the forest know it

Only the Mononoke

It is important to know in order to fully understand these lyrics that “Mononoke” can roughly be translated to spirit or ghost, and can be literally translated to “the spirit of a thing,” or “strange thing”.

While this song is playing in the background Ashitaka has a conversation with Mora, the god of the wolves. She tells him of her side of the conﬂict, how she can feel and hear the cry of the forest as the humans keep destroying it, and how she burns to put an end to the destruction.

9 Spirited Away (2001)

Spirited Away is a ﬁlm that follows Chihiro, a young girl who is in the process of moving to a new house away from all of her friends. Her parents however take a wrong turn and end up ﬁnding an abandoned amusement park, which leads them into the spirit world where all sorts of gods, demons, and spirits roam freely. With no way back into the mor- tal world, and with her parents cursed, Chihiro has to learn how to survive on her own in a strange world full of forces much greater than herself.

This film features a very interesting blend of traditional orchestral instrumentation with more new age digital instruments such as synthesized chimes and bells. This blend of live and digital instruments is used very cleverly to express a change from the human world to the spirit world. This auditory distinction between the two worlds is also emphasized through the change from major and minor scales in the beginning of the movie, to a blend of Japanese and Okinawan scales when they are in the spirit world. For example one of the first pieces played when Chihiro is encountering spirits for the first time is

“Procession Of The Gods”. “This piece has a melody (featured below) that uses an

[Example #3: Melody from “Procession Of The Gods”]

[Transcription by Kyoko Koizumi, Drawn to Sound pg. 69]

10 Okinawan scale which omits the second and sixth scale degrees of a C Major scale.” (Kyoko Koizumi. 2010). Throughout the movie when characterizing spirits this more traditional Japanese scalar material reappears to add a depth to the animated world.

Compared to Princess Mononoke, this ﬁlm is a little more lighthearted and whim- sical. These characteristics are emphasized through the use of “Mickey Mousing” techniques, and cliche melodies or instrumentation, played in an unusual mode. The term

Mickey Mousing is derived from the very early practice in animation of directly parallel- ing the movement of characters or objects with the score (Darby, William, and Jack Du

Bois. 1990). For instance when Chihiro is climbing down the stairs to the boiler room at

21:00 - 22:04 she slips and falls. As she stumbles down the stairs the music is directly lined up all the way until she abruptly hits the wall at the bottom. This parallel scoring is not used frequently and when it is used it is only for a few seconds, however these brief instances add a silliness to what may have been a scary situation. The use of cliche melodies and instrumentation also add a sense of comedy or playfulness to certain scenes. For Instance at 25:27 - 27:56 Chihiro encounters the boiler man and his en- chanted soot-ball workers. As they flutter around Chihiro, a bouncing bass line begins to play on a tuba between pitches C2 and C3. Above this a brass ensemble plays in an almost waltz-like fashion (as can be seen below in Example #4). Part of what makes this piece sound cliche is that its the first section of music in the film that’s aim is to be lighthearted. The sootballs are eccentric characters and the waltz-like melody and sim- plistic bass is a playful enactment. There is also a twist to this piece, in that

11 [Example #4: Melody and bass from “Sootballs”]

it is written in C Dorian. This use of the Dorian mode adds a sense of mystery or magic to what would be a rather standard melodic and bass progression. This same type of play on common melodic and instrumentation ideas can be seen at 1:19:54 - 1:20:40. In this scene Yubaba is taking care of her overgrown baby, Bo. While this is happening the score plays an interesting passage (which can be seen below in Example #5) using chimes, similar to what one would hear from a music box.

12 [Example #5: Melody and bass from “Yubaba”]

Using chimes to characterize children is a rather cliche idea, however the piece is written in F# Mixolydian, which is a rather unfamiliar sound to most ears. This almost dark characterization of a child is unusual and again adds a sense of mystery to this baby as well as to the mother, Yubaba. Both of these musical excerpts I just discussed serve another purpose in the score as well. They are both leitmotivs.

The term leitmotif was ﬁrst used to describe reoccurring melodic or rhythmic themes that were attached to certain characters, areas, or ideas in Richard Wagner’s operas. These themes were used to help accentuate prominent actions, ideas, or characters, and additionally with time and variation could associate a sense of growth to these subjects. For example In Wagner’s largest opera “Der Ring des Nibelungen” The hero, Siegfried, has this melody associated with him. [Transcription from Pano, Jason.

2012]

13 [Example #6: Melody of Siegfried’s leitmotif 56]

As the story progresses this melody grows with Siegfried and it gradually becomes associated with Siegfried’s heroic actions. Later on in the opera however Siegfried is killed, and a lot of emotions are developed from this heroic melody, transforming into a funeral march (Richards, Mark. 2012).

Ever since Wagner’s very successful use of leitmotivs, they have been used by countless composers, and its become a standard practice in composing for stories.

In the context of Spirited Away each major character as well as the idea of nostalgia has their own leitmotif. The various leitmotifs featured in the ﬁlm are there to represent [a]

Home / Chihiro (“One Summer’s Day”, “Day of the River”, and “The Return”), [b] No

Face (“Kaonashi”), [c] Haku (“Dragon Boy”) [d] Sootballs (“Sootballs”), [e] Spirits (“Pro- cession Of The Gods”) and [f] Yubaba and her baby (“Yubaba”, “Yubaba’s Panic”). All of these motifs are mixed together and blended into a seamless score, where when a character or an idea becomes the focus of the narrative that motif becomes the focus of the score as well. Hisaishi’s use of leitmotivs in Spirited Away is very effective as the score parallels the development and growth of the story.

Similar to Princess Mononoke, this ﬁlm has a theme (“One Summer’s Day…”), which is introduced at the very beginning of the movie. This theme represents home, and at the same time, represents the main character: Chihiro. This piece can generally be broken down into sections: A, A’, B , C, C’, D (Rusli, Robert O. 2010)

14 [Example #7: Measures 1 - 9 of One Summer’s Day] 2

As can be seen in Example #7 the beginning of this piece starts off with a big

F7add9 chord leading to a first inversion C7add9 chord. In measure 3 though the piece quickly shifts away modally using a first inversion Bb7add9, as a passing chord into a section of quartal harmony (quartal harmony or quartal chords are chords built by intervals of fourths as opposed to most traditional harmonies which are built by intervals of thirds) until measure 14 when we land on a F7 add 11 which moves to a G7 and then back to a C7 add9. This is a significant chord progression because tonally the fourth chord of the key, F (IV), has a strong pull to move to the fifth chord of the key, the G (V), which has a very strong pull to resolve to the first chord of the key which is C (IV - V - I).

Because this tonal resolution appears we can safely say that if the following chords appear in a similar pattern (revolving around the resolution from G to C, V to I) then this

2 All transcriptions of “One Summer’s Day” in examples 7 - 10 are provided by Pseudo

15 section of the piece is in the key of C Major. And sure enough this tonal resolution continues until measure 30.

[Example #8: A Minor modulation in One Summer’s day at measure 30]

At measure 30, 1:30 mins into the piece (Notation provided in Example #8), the key switches brieﬂy over to A natural minor. It stays there for a while elaborating on a melody and ﬂirting with the return back to C. We expect the piece to release us back to

C major when this passage reaches its climax on a G7 chord; however it makes a big twist and instead of releasing the tension on C it releases it on an F7add11 chord at measure 67, 2:00 mins into the piece (Notation of this section can be seen in Example

#9 below). This switch occurs at a crucial point in the movie. Right when Chihiro’s parents realize that they are lost and are deciding whether to turn around or continue on the road that they are on. They decide to keep going straight ahead at 2:15 mins into the movie, and right away this unexpected cadence lets the audience know that this is a pivotal decision in the story (Leach, Ryan. 2012). As they start to speed up, down the dirt road the music picks up in tempo as well from 80 bpm to 105 bpm. (bpm = beats per minute).

16 [Example #9: of the unexpected cadence moving into the faster section]

Brass and timpani join in the orchestration and the music rapidly begins to feel as though its out of control and out of the listener’s expectations. Out of nowhere a building appears in front of them and Chihiro’s father slams on the brakes just as a big Db7 chord is held in suspense. They manage to come to a stop just in time, as the music swells on long whole note chords over a Cb pedal tone. These chords can be analyzed as follows G7sus4, A7sus4, Bb7sus4, and ﬁnally ending on C7sus4.

[Example #10: Ending chords of One Summer’s Day…]

17 The contrast from this very fast section of music to these whole note chords provides a sense of relief, however the suspended seventh chords over a Cb have an odd tonal quality which acts as a large question mark and just as the music is fading out

Chihiro’s mother asks, “What’s this building?”.

This piece analyzed above (One Summers Day…) is the central theme of the

ﬁlm, and returns again in the middle of the movie to show growth in Chihiro, and to jux- tapose the two worlds that she has transitioned from. In this second iteration of this piece there are a few changes. The most apparent is the varied D section of the piece.

Instead of speeding up at the end in a flare of brass and percussion, it begins to fade away, and arpeggiated harp chords, which in itself is a leitmotif for Haku (different arpeggiation on harp is also heard in Haku’s piece “Dragon boy”) are played as Chihiro sees a dragon fly off into the sky. After this occurs similar ending chords to the first iteration of the piece begin to swell, which is immediately followed by the brief appearance of the character No Face and its leitmotif. Both of these leitmotivs foreshadow the development of Haku and No Face as characters in the next half of the movie.

A brief appearance of the piece also occurs at 1:29:13 with the D section omitted.

This iteration emphasizes Chihiro’s growth, and the friends and home that she has made in the spirit world.

The ﬁnal occurrence of the piece appears at the very end of the ﬁlm when Chihi- ro wins her freedom from Yubaba and she is able to go back to the human world with

18 her parents. The D section of this reiteration is varied once again. This time the D section appears as Chihiro and her family are walking out of the spirit world through the tunnel that they entered in the beginning of the film. As they are entering the tunnel the deceptive cadence that we have begun to get used to starting the D section occurs again, this time however its return is faded and quite, and is played on solo piano. This is significant because in the other iterations of this piece the quality of the D section is what foreshadowed coming events or themes. Therefore this solo piano is foreshadow- ing to the very beginning of the film (which opens with rolling solo piano chords), and represents the return to how things were before this adventure took place.

The proceeding measures of this D section are a development on the piece “A

Road To Somewhere,” which was the tune that was played when Chihiro and her family were ﬁrst entering the spirit world through the tunnel at the very beginning of the ﬁlm.

Both tunes use similar instrumentations of piano, synth chimes, and a string ensemble.

Both pieces also share a similar arpeggiated chime pattern. In “A Road To Somewhere” this arpeggiation looks like this.

And below is the arpeggiation that occurs in the D section

19 As you can see, while the exact pitches of both of these excerpts vary, the rhythm and the size of the intervals are roughly the same.

Additionally in this D section of “One Summer’s Day…” the music is tonally more familiar, as “A Road To Somewhere” has a melody that is written in C Locrian, and in this D section of “One Summer’s Day” the melody is written in C Major. Since the characters have been in this tunnel before this tonal switch from Locrian (which has an un- stable tonal quality) to Major (which has a stable tonal quality) suggests a familiarity with the environment which the characters did not posses when they were first there earlier in the film. When they finally get to the other side of the tunnel, and find their car is cov- ered in leaves and dust, Chihiro looks back at the dark tunnel that they just emerged from. As she does this the piano melody from the A section begins to play over the top and strings begin to swell underneath providing supportive harmonies. Her parents call for her to come get in the car, and as she turns away, and runs to get in; the melody stops and brass begins to swell. They drive away as french horns climb up E, F, G, and

A suspending that last A, which sets up a big concluding sequence of notes that the rest of the brass ensemble plays that descend C, B, G, A, and with that last deceptive cadence, and their car driving out of view the credits begin to roll.

20 Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (1984)

Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind is set one thousand years after the collapse of indus- trial civilization. In its place a jungle has risen which is toxic to humans, and is protected by giant insects. The jungle and its toxic spores are trying to spread as far as they can reach, however some surviving settlements of humans continue to try to stop its quick advance. Nausicaa, the princess of one of these settlements (the Valley of the Wind), sees a beauty in the toxic jungle, and believes that the future of humanity is not to ﬁght the jungle but to embrace it. Other settlements, such as the Tolmekian’s and the Pe- jite’s, don’t share the same view, and instead continue to push plans to destroy the jungle. These plans put the kingdom of the valley of the wind directly in the middle of the conﬂict, and it quickly becomes up to Nausicaa to change the outlook of humanity before humanity repeats the mistakes of the past and destroys itself.

I believe a good preface to the music of this ﬁlm is this quote from Joe Hisaishi himself, which is featured in the book “Drawn to Sound”

“My music is based on a pentatonic scale. But when I use the ‘yona-nuki’3

pentatonic scale, I treat it like a mode such as the English-like Dorian mode.

When I composed the music for Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind, I thought

it was inﬂuenced by elements of Scottish or Irish folk music. Mr. Miyazaki

also likes those kinds of elements. It is obvious that Scottish folk music is

3 “In yona-nuki (‘lacking the fourth and seventh’), the pentatonic scale is composed of ﬁve notes without the fourth and seventh notes of the diatonic scale.” (Koizumi, Kyoko. 2010

21 based on the ‘yona-nuki’ pentatonic scale too. But if I use a pentatonic scale,

my music might become ‘enka’4. So I adopt a defensive stance to keep my

music within a frame of western-style music but also to refrain from making

‘enka’. This is a characteristic of my music. (Agawa, 1999: 157; author’s

translation)” (Koizumi, Kyoko. 2010)

Along with this Scottish or Irish folk inﬂuence, this ﬁlm features a diverse collec- tion of timbres varying from synthesizers, to Middle Eastern, to North Indian, and West- ern orchestral instrumentation. These different forms of instrumentation are used as another way to distinguish different environments from one another. This change in instrumentation to emphasize landscape is a similar technique that was used in Spirited

Away, when traditional Japanese instruments were used to emphasize the difference between the spirit world and the human world. In Nausicaa Of The Valley Of The Wind synthesizers are used to distinguish the toxic jungle and its otherworldly appearance.

This contrast from Western orchestral instrumentation (which is used in most of the ﬁlm) to synthesizers establishes a feeling of a new unfamiliar area. Sitar5 is another contrast- ing timbre which is utilized to distinguish the Ohmu (giant beetle-like creatures that roam in and around the toxic jungle).

4“Enka is a traditional Japanese popular song, often based on sad stories about unrequited or unfulﬁlled love, with melodies indigenous to Japan.” (Koizumi, Kyoko. 2010)

5 The use of sitar (or any foreign instrument), an extremely old instrument with a deep cultural history being used to exoticize media outside of its cultural history is problematic. This topic is worth mentioning however it goes beyond the intended scope of this paper.

22 Within this framework-landscape created by visuals and instrumentation leitmotivs also appear. While very few of these leitmotivs are associated with characters, most represent emotions displayed on screen. For example at 13:56 - 14:27 Nausicaa is overjoyed at making friends with a wild fox-squirrel, and as she is running around in cel- ebration this tune is played in the background.

[Example #11: Melody and chords of The Princess Who Loves Insects]

This scene is the ﬁrst occurrence of this musical theme, and from then on it is used to describe happiness or joy. This piece’s C Major quality with whole note chords and a repeated root note really accentuates the feeling of happiness. It’s also interesting to note the use of plagal motion (fourth chord [IV] of the key: the F, moving to the ﬁrst chord [I] of the key: the C) in measure 2. Plagal motion (IV - I) is regularly used in the music of the catholic church, or in gospel music. The use of it in this example provides a

Western feeling to the animated world of the ﬁlm. A development on it proceeds throughout most of the beginning of the movie as Lord Yupa and Nausicaa are traveling through prosperous lands to get back to the Valley Of The Wind. This theme disappears completely during all of the conﬂicts within the middle of the movie, however at the end as Nausicaa prevails and the towns people are rejoicing it appears once more at

1:54:00.

23 Another leitmotif that appears frequently occurs for the ﬁrst time at 56:29, when

Nausicaa gets wrapped up in the tentacles of the Ohmu. As this is happening Nausicaa enters a dream sequence, and a melody sung by a little girl is heard in the background.

[Example #12: Melody and bass from Contact With The Ohmu]

This melody (In Example #12) represents the princesses dream of insects and humans living together in peace. The tune is written in the key of F minor. In each measure a new chord is arpeggiated in the bass. These chords can be interpreted as follows: F mi- nor, followed by a second inversion C7 chord with an omitted 3rd, followed by an F mi- nor ﬁrst inversion chord, followed by another second inversion C7 chord with an omitted

3rd, and then back to F minor again at measure 5. This theme appears two more times in the movie however at 1:01:48 - 1:03:27 it appears with a different accompanying instrumentation of acoustic guitar and tambourine.

Within all of the battles and conflicts in the film there is a musical passage that emerges from devastation or tragedy. The first appearance of this theme occurs at

24 25:14 when Nausicaa ﬁnds the princess of Pejite among the wreckage of a crashed air- ship.

[Example #13: Bass and chords from The Invasion Of Kushana]

The appearance of this theme marks the beginning of the trials to come for Nausicaa and her people.

Just like in Princess Mononoke and Spirited Away there is one musical piece which sets the stage for the entire film. In Nausicaa Of The Valley Of The Wind that piece is titled “Legend of the Wind.” This piece represents the history of humanity and the yet unfulfilled prophecy of a hero clad in blue coming to reconnect humans with the earth, and bring peace to the world again. The music first appears as the narrator is giv- ing a description of the history of the world and the opening credits are being displayed at 1:58. As the opening credits are flashing by, pictographs, which appear to be woven into a tapestry, show images of the fall of modern civilization through the use of powerful weapons, followed by the creation and proliferation of the toxic jungle and it’s insects.

25 “Legend Of The Wind” is written in C Dorian and starts with a rapid ﬂare of timpani percussion, as strings provide a tense tremolo underneath a repeated French horn melody which is shown below.

Soon fluttering flutes join in the background, playing sixty-fourth notes, which wander in and out of key. After the third time that this French horn melody is played; pounding quarter note bass and timpani start to pick up the intensity of the tune. As this is happening the fluttering flutes and strings start to swell in volume as well, until the french horns pierce through the orchestra again with this line,

which seems to calm the rest of the orchestra.

While this swell of intensity is calming down this harp line emerges,

After two repetitions of this harp line the piano takes over, playing the same phrase in the left hand. From then on the piano takes over and begins to tell the story, adding a melody and elaborating on this bass line (as can be seen below in Example #14).

26 [Example #14: Piano melody and bass from main them of The Legend Of The Wind]

It’s at this moment that crucial events in the animated world’s history are shown in the form of pictographs. Images of a highly advanced civilization, developing a powerful weapon which could not be controlled are displayed. Then images of the appearance of the toxic jungle and its insects are shown.

As the piece continues strings begin to accompany the piano. Soon after this the piano switches to playing chords and the strings become more prominent providing ad- ditional harmony. Then at 3:20 minutes into the movie the pictographs stop on a image of a girl dressed in blue ﬂying with white wings. At this moment the pictographs fade out and Nausicaa appears ﬂying on her white glider dressed all in blue. It is at this moment

27 as well that the piece changes instrumentally and the strings take over, repeating the same melody and bass listed in Example #14 as the piano fades out entirely. As the strings begin to complete one repetition of the piece Nausicaa approaches the toxic jungle and the music slowly fades out.

This first scene paired with this Western influenced music written in the Dorian mode creates a deep sense of history for this animated world and implies that the events which are going to take place in the film will be historically significant as well.

There is a faint return of this theme at 20:08, when Yubaba is explaining the prophecy to Nausicaa, this time though, with different instrumentation of a swelling bass pad, a ﬂute, and a bağlama. This brief musical appearance is a reminder of Nausicaa’s destiny; and the quiet nature of this iteration shows her lack of awareness of her role in the story.

The piece makes a full return in the middle of the movie at 1:05:42 as Nausicaa begins to uncover the secret function of the toxic jungle. It isn’t vocally explained immediately, but based on the music and based on Nausicaa’s expressions, the audience can tell that this is a crucial moment, and that Nausicaa is just piecing together that the toxic jungle isn’t the cause of the toxins, but the jungle is actively cleansing the toxins that were already present in the world. This understanding is crucial to Nausicaa fulﬁlling the prophecy, hence the return of this musical theme.

The ﬁnal occurrence of this theme is at the very end of the movie after Nausicaa has realized her destiny and calmed the fury of the insects and humans. As the ending

28 credits begin to roll and scenes of prosperous times of humans and insects living together happily ﬂash by, the theme is played in the background (1:55:20). This iteration is the same except for a slight tonicization of C Major for two measures. This tonicization represents the resolution of the conﬂicts in the story.

[Example #15: C Major Tonicization of the main theme Legend Of The Wind]

29 Conclusion

From the analysis of all three of these films I believe we can extract some crucial information on how Joe Hisaishi’s overall compositional structure and technique aid in developing depth and history to Miyazaki’s animated worlds. The first and possibly the most obvious is his use of thematic development through a single musical piece, that follows the entire arc of the story. This piece is introduced at the beginning, reappears in the middle, and appears once more at the end of the film. In Princess Mononoke this piece is “The Legend Of Ashitaka”, in Spirited Away it is “One Summer’s Day…” and in

Nausicaa Of The Valley Of The Wind it is “The Legend Of The Wind”. All of these pieces represent the story and its protagonist’s journey. By establishing these pieces of music at the very beginning of the film they come to be associated with a sense of home. This is why when it appears for the second time, in the middle of the movie, at a turning point in the protagonists journey, a sense of growth is established, and when it appears at the very end of the film a sense of finality is established, as journeys often end where they begin.

Stylistically most of Hisaishi’s work is focused around the piano, as Hisaishi is a piano player himself. His music is generally melodically focused with long sweeping strings providing harmonies. His use of modal material, and especially his use of the

Dorian mode, provide an air of ambiguity or mystery to his pieces, which in turn help to elongate the suspension of disbelief.

30 Another characteristic of Hisaishi’s music is his adaptation of scalar material to ﬁt the historical contexts of the animated worlds. For example in Princess Mononoke and

Spirited Away, both ﬁlms which are deeply entwined in Japanese folklore, Hisaishi uses a blend of traditional Japanese scalar material with western orchestration. However in

Nausicaa Of The Valley Of The Wind, a ﬁlm in which the setting is more European focused, he composed the pieces in a more traditional Western fashion of Major, Minor, and Dorian modes.

His use of different traditional musics infuses Miyazaki’s worlds with a unique character, as well as provides insight into unspoken cultural influences. For example the use of western orchestration in Princess Mononoke alludes to a European influence which is never spoken of in the dialog of the film. Another example can be found in Spir- ited Away as the main theme “One Summer’s Day…” is written with a full orchestra and

ﬁrst appears as Chihiro and her family are driving on the highway to get to their new home. However, once they enter the spirit world and the characters begin to interact with the creatures of Japanese folklore, a blending occurs of traditional instrumentation and scalar material. This blending of music, as well as the reoccurring “One Summer’s

Day…” speaks deeply to the cultural relationship of current and past generations of

Japan.

Miyazaki has recently announced that he will be retiring with the release of his latest ﬁlm The Wind Rises (2013). While Miyazaki has claimed that he would be retiring in the past and yet still continued to work and produce ﬁlms, it is sad to think that this

31 may be the last ﬁlm that he and Joe Hisaishi will be collaborating on. They have however given fans plenty to watch over the years with eleven collaborative ﬁlms in total.

While this may be the end of Miyazaki and Hisaishi’s partnership it may mark the beginning of another, as who knows what Hisaishi will choose to create or help create next.

32 Work Cited:

Articles

Koizumi, Kyoko. "An Animated Partnership: Joe Hisaishi's Musical Contributions to

Hayao Miyazaki's Films." Drawn to Sound: Animation Film Music and Sonicity. By

Rebecca Coyle. London: Equinox Pub., 2010. 60-74. Print.

Rusli, Robert O. "Hisaishi’d Away: An Analysis of Joe Hisaishi’s Film Scoring

Technique." http://wesscholar.wesleyan.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?

article=1407&context=etd_hon_theses. Wesleyan University, Apr. 2010. Web. 31

Jan. 2016.

Books

Hughes, David W. Traditional Folk Song in Modern Japan: Sources, Sentiment and

Society. Folkestone: Global Oriental, 2008. Print.

Gorbman, Claudia. Unheard Melodies: Narrative Film Music. London: BFI Pub., 1987.

Print.

Darby, William, and Jack Du Bois. American Film Music: Major Composers, Techniques,

Trends, 1915-1990. Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 1990. Print.

Websites

”Princess Mononoke (FAQ)." - GhibliWiki. Ghibliwiki, 6 May 2013. Web. 31 Jan. 2016.

33 "Princess Mononoke (tatara Song)." GhibliWiki. Trans. Kyoko Toyama. GhibliWiki, 13

Feb. 2007. Web. 07 Apr. 2016.

"Princess Mononoke (song)." GhibliWiki. Trans. Deborah Goldsmith and Ryoko Toyama.

Ghibliwiki, 29 Feb. 2012. Web. 07 Apr. 2016.

Baker, Mike Maikeru. "Cultural Diffusion and Its Effects on Japan." Cultural Diffusion

and Its Effects on Japan. Samurai-acrchives.com, n.d. Web. 31 Jan. 2016.

Lacombe, Stephane. "Resources." Resources. HK Orient Extreme Cinema, 5 Dec.

1997. Web. 31 Jan. 2016.

Pano, Jason. "Wagner Leitmotives - 56 - Siegfried." YouTube. YouTube, 08 Mar. 2012.

Web. 07 Apr. 2016.

Siegel, Robert. "Joe Hisaishi - Composer Biography, Facts and Music Compositions."

FAMOUS COMPOSERS. Famouscomposers.net, n.d. Web. 31 Jan. 2016.

Richards, Mark. "Film Music Notes." Film Music Notes. N.p., 1 Dec. 2012. Web. 28 Mar.

2016.

34 Leach, Ryan. "An Introduction to Cadences - Envato Tuts+ Music & Audio Tutorial."

Music & Audio Envato Tuts+. Envatotuts+, 16 July 2012. Web. 28 Mar. 2016.

Films

Princess Mononoke--electronic Press Kit. U.S. Release Version.

Dir. Hayao Miyazaki. By Hayao Miyazaki. Prod. Toshio Suzuki.

Perf. Yôji Matsuda, Yuriko Ishida, Yûko Tanaka. Studio Ghibli, 1999. DVD.

Spirited Away. By Hayao Miyazaki.

Dir. Hayao Miyazaki. Prod. Toshio Suzuki. Perf. Rumi Hiiragi, Miyu Irino,

Mari Natsuki, Takeshi Naito, Yasuko Sawaguchi, Tsunehiko Kamijō,

Takehiko Ono, Bunta Sugawara. Studio Ghibli, 2001. DVD.

Kaze No Tani No Naushika = Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind.

Dir. Hayao Miyazaki. By Hayao Miyazaki, Hideshi Kyonen, Joe Hisaishi, Naoki

Kaneko, Tomoko Kida, and Shōji Saka. Prod. Isao Takahata and Mitsuyoshi

Nakamura. Perf. Sumi Shimamoto, Mahito Tsujimura, Hisako Kyōda, Gorō Naya,

Ichirō Nagai, and Kōhei Miyauchi. Toei, Inc., 1984. DVD.

Scores

Spirited Away, “One Summer’s Day…” Composed by Joe Hisaishi transcribed by

Pseudo

35 http://vk.com/doc886922_241884155? hash=931250fd905a28fe11&dl=c161c2a81e4e525158