Los Angeles, CA (The Hollywood Times) 07/21/2026 – The main composer for Studio Ghibli, Joe Hisaishi, brings the Hollywood Bowl to tears with the LA Philharmonic by revisiting his most well-known film compositions.
The Hollywood Bowl hosted the first of three nights where Hollywood will be transported into Studio Ghibli’s worlds through the music of Joe Hisaishi, the main composer for all of Hayao Miyazaki’s films. The first night was held on Tuesday the 21st and the last one will be held on Thursday the 24th. All of the shows with the presence of the LA Philharmonic and the soprano Ariadne Greif.
On arrival to the Bowl one could already see people cosplaying their favorite Ghibli characters, such as Chihiro from Spirited Away, Sophie from Howl’s Moving Castle or Kiki from Kiki’s Delivery Service. Excitement was through the roof.
And the proof was a fully booked Bowl. Everywhere you looked was filled with people, not a single seat was left free. And it couldn’t be more appropriate when one is listening to one of the most prestigious and genius composers of our time.
Joe Hisaishi, whose true name is Mamoru Fujisawa (the inspiration behind this name was Quincy Jones, since in the Japanese Kanji “Hisaishi” can be read as “Kuishi”), was ready to give life to the Bowl, and a little after 8pm the show started.
Before Hisaishi stepped onto stage the LA Phil gave a beautiful rendition of the National Anthem. Those who were still going into the theatre had to wait aside while the anthem was playing and once it was done and everyone cheered they all settled down to enjoy the show.
A journey through Hisaishi’s career
The concert started with an introductory piece of what we were going to listen to, as well as an introduction to the vocalists, and main chairs of the LA Philharmonic.
Before going into his film music, Hisaishi directed a sensible piece in honor of Nobuhiko Obayashi who were great friends and collaborators before Obayashi’s passing in April of 2020.
The early stages of Hisaishi
The first film piece he played was a composition he made for, and I personally couldn’t believe it myself, The General, the infamous Buster Keaton feature that was commissioned to him for a 2004 release. Since the very first note one could already know it was a Hisaishi piece due to the way he composes, relying a lot on strings and metallic winds. All of this accompanied by images of the jaw dropping train wreck that Buster Keaton did for the film.
After this incredible first taste of his musical career Hisaishi jumped to his works with Takeshi Kitano, featuring music from Sonatine, Hana-Bi (Fireworks), Kikujiro & Brother.
This was the first time I personally heard any of these soundtracks and the one that impressed me the most was from Sonatine, from which he played Acts of Violence, due to its more futuristic approach including some synthesizers, something Hisaishi rarely uses in his compositions. Though my favorite ones were Summer from the Kikujiro soundtrack and the self-titled Hana-Bi. Two beautiful pieces that have Hisaishi’s soul engraved into it. After listening to these I will for sure dive into Kitano’s films.
The magic of Ghibli
After finishing the Kitano phase of the concert, the bowl erupted into an applause while at the same time being left with some uncertainty due to Hisaishi and the LA Phil leaving the stage. It was of course an intermission, but it felt as if many people were unaware of its which kind of shifted the mood of the concert.
Around 15 minutes later the LA Phil came back onto stage with the addition of the chorus. And once they were there everybody knew that we were in for the best part of the concert.
And thus began the main event of the concert, the soundtrack for all the Ghibli films Hisaishi has composed in chronological order. So those most well-versed in Miyazaki will know what soundtrack comes next, which can be an upside or a downside, depending on how you look at it.
Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind was the very first time Hisaishi and Miyazaki collaborated in a feature film, and Hisaishi directed a beautiful combination of various of the pieces from the soundtrack, including The Distant Days with its unforgettable choral chant which as expected the chorus nailed.
Next was Studio Ghibli’s first film (since Nausicaä was done before Ghibli’s foundation even if it was later adopted as a Ghibli film) Castle in the Sky which started with the beautiful trumpet of Doves and the Boy. Surprisingly during these two set pieces of the first films there weren’t many cheers other than the routinary applause after each one. Everyone was waiting for the most well-known and for some most cherished Ghibli films. And the next one was the first “big” one.
And of course it had to be My Neighbor Totoro. One of, if not the most cherished and famous Ghibli film with Spirited Away. One thing that caught me off guard is that they didn’t play the Totoro theme song, but they played the intro song instead. It did bug me a little at first, but I knew a Hisaishi concert couldn’t be completed without the Totoro theme song… Right?
Who doesn’t love Kiki’s Delivery Service? A sweet tale about a young girl that wants to be a witch. Here is where the cheers kept going as the first notes of one of the most known Hisaishi soundtracks started playing. Of course it was A Town with an Ocean View. All completed with some beautiful imagery of the film interposed with shots of the Director and the LA Phil.
For me, the next film and soundtrack is one of the most underrated ones in Ghibli’s catalogue. And I’m talking about Porco Rosso, the tale of an ex-war pilot that is a pig living amongst men. The trumpets in this soundtrack are just so beautiful and unique from other Hisaishi compositions that make it unique in its own marvelous way.
After Porco Rosso ended the tone shifted completely as the percussionist banged some massive drums repeatedly while the title card for Princess Mononoke started rolling in with The Demon God playing. And as with Porco Rosso, this soundtrack is so unique due to its heavy use of percussion, especially for the action scenes. The drums resonated through the whole Bowl and it didn’t let anyone indifferent. And we’re also talking about Princess Mononoke here, considered by many as the best Ghibli film made to date.
But the real showstopper was the next one. And if you’ve been following along, you know it had to be Spirited Away. The film that earned Miyazaki his first Oscar and which also was the first Oscar for an animated film not in the English language and also completely hand drawn. (To this day all of Ghibli films have been hand drawn). So as the first piano notes by the hands of Hisaishi started playing One Summer’s Day, the first tears started to show. The LA Phil did a beautiful job with this one, but it was more special since the main vocalist did her debut in the concert. Her name, Mai Fujisawa, who did an impeccable job.
After Spirited Away, Hisaishi spoke to the mic for the first time, and it was very brief. A “how are you feeling” followed by cheers and a massive support by the whole Bowl and ended in a simple “by the way, that is my daughter” while pointing at the vocalist. A lot of awws were heard for a clear proud father moment.
Next on the menu was my personal favorite Ghibli film Howl’s Moving Castle. And for me it was my breaking moment as Hisaishi decided to start Mary Go Round with a music-box type of start to it which suited it perfectly. While tears were running down my face remembering everything that Ghibli and Miyazaki has done for me and my approach to filmmaking, I hoped for them to play The Promise of the World but they didn’t, which was a bummer since it’s one of the most well-known soundtracks from Hisaishi as well as one of the most emotional ones.
After Howl, Hisaishi flipped the mood again, from a gut-wrenching rendition of Mary Go Round to the upbeat and chorus filled Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea where many of the spectators joined into the English dubbed version of the iconic song. Miyazaki’s most personal and almost autobiographical film The Wind Rises followed and after it the only Takahata film that Hisaishi has composed and it is the breathtaking The Tale of the Princes Kaguya. Which uses a completely different animation style from Ghibli’s usual one. And the soundtrack was also exceptional.
Lastly Hisaishi sat down again at the piano and started playing Ask Me Why from Miyazaki’s last film The Boy and the Heron which earned him his second Oscar. And as the last song it was surprisingly short and really downbeat due to the lone piano being accompanied by some strings and a xylophone.
After this Hisaishi stood up, thanked the crowd and started to leave. Some audience members started leaving as well but most of the theatre stayed since we knew that couldn’t be the end. There had to be something else!
A beautiful ending
And of course, Hisaishi came back out. Everyone cheered and I knew what song was coming. Remember how I said it felt off that they didn’t play the Totoro theme song? Well, he was waiting for this moment.
Led by Mai, the chorus and the LA Phil started to play the theme song and as they did with the Ponyo song, many of the crowd joined on the classic Totoro Totoro chorus line.
As the last notes started to play the Hollywood Bowl started to shine like the stars and all the crowd started giving a massive 5 minute standing ovation as Joe Hisaishi, as sweet and tender as he’s always been, started to thank every single LA Philharmonic musician, including the shy harpist and the very celebrated tuba player.
It was the perfect ending for a perfect concert.
Overall rating
Before writing this article, I was going to say that the concert felt rather short, and it still does, but reading it through again I see that it was really complete with all of Ghibli’s films and the most well-known song. The concert ended up running about one hour and a forty excluding the intermission.
If anything I would have wished for Hisaishi to conduct The Promise of the World at some point and actually make the concert a bit longer since no one can ever get enough of the beauty of Hisaishi’s compositions.
It was an exceptional concert, and the LA Philharmonic did an impeccable job with Hisaishi’s directions, and the presence of Mai Fujisawa tied everything with a beautiful bow, just like Kiki’s in Kiki’s Delivery Service.
Rating: 4.75/5
