|
Joe Hisaishi
, known professionally as , is a Japanese composer, musical director, conductor and pianist, known for over 100 film scores and solo albums dating back to 1981. He is also known for his piano scores. Hisaishi's music has been known to explore and incorporate different genres, including minimalist, experimental electronic, Western classical, and Japanese classical. He has also worked as a music engraver and arranger. He has been associated with director and animator Hayao Miyazaki since 1984, having written scores for all but one of Miyazaki's films. He is also recognized for his music for filmmaker 'Beat' Takeshi Kitano, including ''A Scene at the Sea'' (1991), '' Sonatine'' (1993), ''Kids Return'' (1996), '' Hana-bi'' (1997), ''Kikujiro'' (1999), ''Brother'' and ''Dolls'' (2002), and for the video game series '' Ni no Kuni''. He was a student of anime composer Takeo Watanabe. Life and career Early life Hisaishi was born in Nakano, Nagano, Japan, as . He started learnin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nakano, Nagano
is a city located in Nagano Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 42,664 in 15649 households, and a population density of 380 persons per km². The total area of the city is . Geography Located in the northern end of the Zennoji Plain of northern Nagano prefecture, Nakano is located on the Chikuma River and is surrounded by mountains. The weather in Nakano varies greatly over the seasons. Surrounding municipalities *Nagano Prefecture ** Iiyama ** Nagano ** Obuse ** Takayama ** Yamanouchi ** Kijimadaira ** Iizuna Climate Nakano has a climate characterized by characterized by hot and humid summers, and relatively mild winters (Köppen climate classification ''Cfa''). The average annual temperature in Nakano is 12.2 °C. The average annual rainfall is 1406 mm with September as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in August, at around 25.6 °C, and lowest in January, at around -0.4 °C. Demographics Per Japanese ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Music Of Japan
In Japan, music includes a wide array of distinct genres, both traditional and modern. The word for "music" in Japanese language, Japanese is 音楽 (''ongaku''), combining the kanji 音 ''on'' (sound) with the kanji 楽 ''gaku'' (music, comfort). Japan is the world's largest market for music on physical media and the List of largest recorded music markets, second-largest overall music market, with a retail value of US$2.7 billion in 2017. Traditional and folk music Gagaku, hougaku The oldest forms of traditional Japanese music are: * , or Buddhism, Buddhist chanting * , or orchestral court music both of which date to the Nara period, Nara (710–794) and Heian period, Heian (794–1185) periods. Gagaku classical music has been performed at the Imperial court since the Heian period. Kagura-uta (神楽歌), Azuma-asobi (東遊) and Yamato-uta (大和歌) are indigenous repertories. Tōgaku (唐楽) and komagaku emerged during the Tang dynasty (618–907) via the Korean Peninsula. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kunitachi College Of Music
The is a private music conservatory in Tachikawa, Tokyo, Japan. Founded in 1926 as the Tokyo Conservatory of Music, Kunitachi now offers study programs in performance, music education, composition, computer music, and musicology, for bachelor's degree, post-bachelor's diploma, master's degree, and doctorate. It has signed cooperation agreements with notable music schools around the world, such as Geneva University of Music, California Institute of Arts, among others. Notable alumni *Masamichi Amano, composer *Ahn Eak-tai, composer and conductor *Masashi Fujimoto, actor, singer, musician, and entertainer * Okuda Hiroko, inventor and composer *Kohmi Hirose, singer *Joe Hisaishi, composer and director *Masato Honda, saxophonist and multi-instrumentalist * Yukihiro Ikeda, tubist *Ichiyo Izawa, pianist of Tokyo Jihen; frontman of Appa; dropped out *Motohiro Kawashima, composer *Mayumi Miyata, shō player *Michiru Oshima, composer *Nozomi Takeuchi, gravure idol *Yōsuke Yamashita, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Takeo Watanabe
Takeo Watanabe' Animeland Retrieved November 11, 2009. was a Japanese musician and composer. In addition to composing the well known theme song for ''Cutie Honey'' he has also composed music for multiple anime television series and films including ''Lone Wolf and Cub'', ''Candy Candy'', and ''Mobile Suit Gundam''. ''Tomei Tengu BGM'' written and performed by Takeo Watanabe was used in the soundtrack of the 2003 movie '' Lost in Translation'' fourteen years after his death. In 2008 Takeo Watanabe posthumously received an Award of Merit from the Tokyo International Anime Fair. He died at the age of 56. Biography Eldest son of . Graduated from Musashi(?) University he studied music in Paris, France. Works Television Animation * * * - See The Little Mermaid * * * * * * * * * * * * * * (In the English version of this series as well as in adaptations based on the English version, Watanabe's score was replaced with one by Haim Saban and Shuki Levy.) * * ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dolls (2002 Film)
is a 2002 Japanese film written, edited and directed by Japanese director Takeshi Kitano. A highly stylized art film, ''Dolls'' is part of Kitano's non-crime film oeuvre, like 1991's ''A Scene at the Sea'', and unlike most of his other films, he does not act in it. The film has been praised for its cinematography (Katsumi Yanagishima) and features costumes by Yohji Yamamoto. Plot The film features three primary sets of characters, each within their own distinct story: * A young man (''Matsumoto'', played by Hidetoshi Nishijima) who rejects his engagement to his fiancée (''Sawako'', played by Miho Kanno) to marry the daughter of his company's president. When his former fiancée attempts suicide and ends up in a semi- catatonic state, he takes her out of the hospital and they run away. * Another young man (''Nukui'', played by Tsutomu Takeshige) is obsessed with the pop-star ''Haruna'' (played by Kyoko Fukada); he blinds himself when she is involved in a disfiguring car accident ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Brother (2000 Film)
is a 2000 gangster film starring, written, directed, and edited by Takeshi Kitano. The film premiered on September 7, 2000 at the Venice Film Festival. The plot centers on a mature yakuza gangster who has to flee to Los Angeles, where he unites forces with his little brother and his brother’s gang. It was the first American co-production directed by Kitano and the first American co-production in which he was an actor. Plot Yamamoto (Takeshi Kitano) is a brutal and experienced Yakuza enforcer whose boss was killed and whose clan was defeated in a criminal war with a rival family. Surviving clan members have few options: either to join the winners, reconciling with shame and distrust, or to die by committing seppuku. Yamamoto, however, decides to escape to Los Angeles along with his associate Kato ( Susumu Terajima). There he finds his estranged half-brother Ken (Claude Maki), who runs a small-time drug business together with his local African-American friends. At the first me ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kikujiro
''Kikujiro'' () is a 1999 Japanese road drama film starring, written, and directed by Takeshi Kitano. Its score was composed by Joe Hisaishi. The film was entered into the 1999 Cannes Film Festival. ''Kikujiro'' tells the story of a young boy searching for his mother during his summer vacation. The film is mostly divided into smaller chapters, listed as entries in the boy's summer vacation diary. Kitano's inspiration for the character (not the film) was his own father, Kikujiro Kitano, a gambler who struggled to feed his family and pay the rent. Similar to his earlier works ''Getting Any?'' and ''A Scene at the Sea'', Kitano references the yakuza only tangentially in ''Kikujiro'', a departure from his work in crime dramas such as '' Sonatine'' and ''Hana-bi''. Aimed at the whole family, the film was allegedly inspired by '' The Wizard of Oz'' with the basic premise being a road trip. Kitano's familiar elements and locales are present: drawings, vignettes, the seaside, and angels. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hana-bi
, released in the United States as ''Fireworks'', is a 1997 Japanese crime drama film written, directed and edited by Takeshi Kitano, who also stars in it. The film's score was composed by Joe Hisaishi in his fourth collaboration with Kitano. is the Japanese word for "fireworks." ''Hana-bi'' won the Golden Lion at the 54th Venice International Film Festival and helped to establish Kitano as an internationally acclaimed filmmaker. Plot Yoshitaka Nishi is a violent former police detective who had to retire after a tragic accident during a botched arrest in which a detective, Tanaka, was killed by the suspect while two others, Nakamura and Horibe, were severely injured. Becoming unemployed, Nishi spends most of his time taking care of his sick wife Miyuki, who has terminal leukemia. To pay for his wife's care, Nishi borrows money from the ''yakuza'', but is having difficulty repaying them. Meanwhile, Horibe, who becomes paralyzed after the incident, experiences a deep depression ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kids Return
is a 1996 Japanese film written, edited and directed by Takeshi Kitano. The film was made directly after Kitano recovered from a motorcycle wreck that left one side of his body paralyzed. After undergoing extensive surgery and physical therapy, he quickly went about making ''Kids Return'' amidst speculation that he might never be able to work again. The movie is about two high school dropouts, Masaru (Ken Kaneko) and Shinji (Masanobu Andō), who try to find a direction and meaning in their lives—one by becoming a yakuza lieutenant, the other by becoming a boxer. The music was composed by Joe Hisaishi, and the cinematographer was Katsumi Yanagishima. Plot Shinji and Masaru are high school delinquents, terrifying their classmates, stealing money, and even setting their teacher's car on fire. After some of their victims hire a boxer to beat up Masaru, he decides to get revenge, and takes his shy friend Shinji along with him to a boxing gym. To their trainers' surprise, Shinji ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sonatine (1993 Film)
is a 1993 Japanese yakuza film directed, written and edited by Takeshi Kitano, who also stars in the film. It won numerous awards and became one of Kitano's most successful and praised films, garnering him a sizable international fan base. Plot Murakawa, a Tokyo-based ''yakuza'' enforcer, has grown tired of gangster life. He is sent by his boss to Okinawa, supposedly to mediate a dispute between their allies, the Nakamatsu and Anan clans. Murakawa openly suspects the assignment is an attempt to have him removed and even beats up one of his colleagues, Takahashi, but ends up going with his men. He finds that the dispute is insignificant; the group's temporary headquarters is bombed and his men are ambushed in a bar, leaving several of them dead. Fleeing to the seaside, the survivors take refuge in a remote beach house belonging to a brother of one of the Nakamatsu members and decide to wait for the trouble to blow over. Whilst spending time at the beach, the group engages in child ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
A Scene At The Sea
is a 1991 Japanese drama film written, edited and directed by Takeshi Kitano starring Claude Maki. Plot A deaf garbage collector happens upon a broken and discarded surfboard. The discovery plants in him dreams of becoming a surf champion. Encouraged by his also deaf girlfriend, he persists against all odds. Production This movie was a break from previous Kitano fare in that it features no gangsters or police. However, Kitano did return to darker themes in his next film, '' Sonatine'', as well as many later works. In the film, Kitano develops his more delicate, romantic side along with his trademark deadpan approach. In 2002, the Japanese filmmaker directed a similar movie, ''Dolls'', a romantic tale about three pairs of lovers. This film marks the first collaboration between Kitano and composer Joe Hisaishi, who had previously created the acclaimed soundtracks of many of Hayao Miyazaki's anime films, including ''Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind''. Hisaishi would go on to c ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
