Hayao Miyazaki’s animation studio has been thrilling international audiences since 1985. More than twenty feature films have been released under the aegis of its founder, leaving a unique visual and musical imprint on the collective memory: Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind, The Castle in the Sky, My Neighbour Totoro and The Journey of Chihiro are all successes intrinsically linked to the original music of composer Joe Hisaishi.

These undeniable musical successes are the fruit of a skilful combination of repertoires, as musicologist Max Dozolme points out: ‘His orchestral scores, inspired by the impressionist music of Debussy and Ravel, blend with synthesiser melodies, traditional Japanese songs and light waltzes with Italian accents, as demonstrated by the main theme of Le Château Ambulant.