Hayao Miyazaki’s Greatest Collaborator Never Expected Awards Recognition

For a certain type of person, the most coveted concert ticket of the last two years isn’t to the Eras or Renaissance Tours. It’s to see Joe Hisaishi, the legendary composer best known for his collaborations with Studio Ghibli co-founder Hayao Miyazaki. Embarking upon something of a career-retrospective world tour, the man behind the instantly memorable sounds of Spirited Away, Howl’s Moving Castle, and several other of cinema’s all-time greatest works has spent much of the last 18 months on the road—all during what increasingly feels like a pivotal moment in the 73-year-old artist’s career.

Fans around the world have spent hundreds of dollars to see Hisaishi play such vaunted venues as Radio City Music Hall, the Hollywood Bowl, and London’s Wembley Arena. And these aren’t just lovers of orchestral music, the kinds of concertgoers most likely to spend their cash to see a symphony. People of all ages have made something of a pilgrimage to go see the composer play out of a sense of nostalgia; much of his work serves as the theme songs of their childhoods.

But the composer says he’s well aware that a large portion of the crowd is there for not just him, but what he represents to them.

Read more at The Daily Beast.