“The celebration and curse of creation” Kenshi Yonezu gained from his days with Hayao Miyazaki (2024)

* Note: This article includes spoilers for the movie “The Boy and the Heron”.

It is widely known that Kenshi Yonezu made the song “Spinning Globe”, the theme song of the latest Hayao Miyazaki movie, The Boy and the Heron. What happened in this making process that spanned four years? I asked Kenshi Yonezu, who sat right in front of me in a room where we could hear the cicadas sing outside the window, about his current mindset after completing a project of a lifetime to work face-to-face with the virtuosity of Hayao Miyazaki, and what he sees in his future.

“For the past four years, not a day has gone by without being conscious of The Boy and the Heron.”

“The storyboard was heavy on my heart and soul,” Yonezu looks back with a bitter smile. The making process of the theme song of the movie “The Boy and the Heron” began with Hayao Miyazaki handing Yonezu the five-volume storyboard he had created.

“I felt that the storyline drew a line between Mr. Miyazaki’s previous works and that if there had been 100 people, every single one would take it differently. So I had no idea which way to turn, thinking, ‘What kind of music should I put into this…?’” As a person who has made pop music, I only had a feeling that ‘my conventional method could hardly meet this’”.

A movie that all receptions might be different meant that it was practically impossible to create “a theme song that stayed present to the sentiment of the viewers”.

Plus, in this case, the directions (note: sentences other than the dialogue lines that convey the renderings and intentions) of the storyboard did not serve as hints either.

“Most directions were technical suggestions for visual creation, and there were almost no descriptions of the true intent of a shot or the sentiment of a character. Especially after the story goes into the fantasy world, it is a string of Mr. Miyazaki’s imagination. The directions did not make the making of the song any easier”.

In a small room with wooden chairs and a creaking floor, Yonezu looks back on those days and shows a bewildered face.

“When I had a meeting with Mr. Miyazaki and Mr. (Toshio) Suzuki for the first time, Mr. Miyazaki said that he would portray ‘all the parts that he had hidden until then, the darkness and mess inside of himself’. I had only known him through books and movies; I thought it was ‘absolutely impossible to understand all of him’”.

The question of how to face the theme song of “The Boy and the Heron” presented a challenge like never before to Kenshi Yonezu, not only as a person who had grown up fully absorbed in Hayao Miyazaki’s influences but also as a professional musician.

In fact, Yonezu says that since 2019, not a day has gone by without being conscious of “The Boy and the Heron”, although he has been busy with the album release, tours, and a string of major tie-in projects.

“For the past four years, this movie has always been in the back of my head. No matter what I did, even when writing a song that had nothing to do with it, or just living everyday life, a thin membrane that said ‘The Boy and the Heron’ was always screening my view. It indeed imposed heavy pressure on me, and there was always a sense of preparation for it.”

The choice of “Scottish folk music” and its deep synchronization with the movie

After facing up to the storyboard for about two years, it took another two years for Yonezu to find the shape of the song “Spinning Globe”.

“It went through many changes. At first, I was thinking of more digital-driven arrangements to depict ‘how I have lived my life’, as the counterpart to the movie title that could be translated as ‘How do you live?’ My musical activities started with Vocaloids; music to me was ‘something that comes out from the PC screen’. So, to depict the path I had come up to then, I thought programmed tracks would be the most appropriate.

But as Yonezu faced deeper into the world of “The Boy and the Heron”, he held back showing his “personal context” by introducing digital sound.

“As I studied the storyboard, I felt, ‘what I was trying to do was too much of an ego’. I gave the song a second thought; it should be constructed simply from the inspirations I took from the storyboard. And it led to the points of view to ponder on ‘what kind of a person Hayao Miyazaki is', or ‘how Hayao Miyazaki and I are related to each other’, as well as the focused image to write a song that is ‘neither new nor old and in the format that you can listen to for a long time’”. After solidifying the image of the song, Yonezu proceeded with the process with more trials and errors.

“I tried one drawn image after another, such as, ‘Let’s write a song that is Joni Mitchell-ish’. I also tried different instruments, such as the piano or the guitar. At first, I played the cajón, but ended up with the type of music you hear at a Thai restaurant, which didn’t fit the movie at all, so I threw that idea away. And through the repeat of that process, I came up with the idea of ‘making something like Scottish folk music’.

“If you ask, ‘Why Scottish folk music?’ I can only say, ‘It was what I felt from Mr. Miyazaki’s movie’. But Scottish folk music is something familiar to Japanese people. For example, the Japanese children’s song ‘Hotaru no Hikari’ draws from it (‘Auld Lang Syne’). So I had a feeling that I could apply its vibe to the movie.”

That’s what Yonezu says, but perhaps, without being conscious, he felt a common thread between the anime, which is a form of “Japanese culture originating from the West,” and Scottish folk music, which, in a context that has nothing to do with his roots, enjoys affinity among the Japanese people.

Western culture underlies anime. Disney from America had a significant influence on the formation of Japanese anime culture. And the anime movie “The Shepherdess and the Chimney Sweep", which Hayao Miyazaki and the late Isao Takahata cited as their major influence, is from France. Miyazaki has been very self-conscious about his anime’s roots and even had some sort of hesitance towards them; you can tell from his words when he referred to the works he had been influenced by, as well as from the special exhibitions at Ghibli Museum, and from the fact that he drew the bathhouse in “Spirited Away” as ‘quasi-Western’.

Likewise, Kenshi Yonezu is a creator whose main field is “J-POP”, a genre that has evolved repeatedly in a direction unique to the Japanese, while taking in Western culture as its major referential point. It is not strange if some kind of sensation he gained there allowed him to subconsciously choose “Scottish folk music” to depict the relationship between Hayao Miyazaki and animation.

The “essence of creation” seen at the climax of “The Boy and the Heron”

Yonezu’s viewpoints of ‘what kind of a person Hayao Miyazaki is’ and ‘how Hayao Miyazaki and I are related to each other’ are clearly seen in the lyrics. What I wish to focus on is the line that goes, “I grasped the fragment firmly, so the secret remains”; it is unusual for Yonezu to depict a movie scene straightforwardly.

“I was not conscious about ‘including a scene in the movie’ when I wrote the lyrics. But come to think of it, this line is indeed a reference. I don’t think I can interpret it in any other way. In fact, this scene is my favorite.”

Towards the end of the movie, Mahito, the protagonist, returns to reality from the alternate world. Questioned by the Heron about retaining the memory from there, he takes out from his pocket the stone he brought back with him.

This scene repeats itself in the final segment right before the credits. Although discreet, there is a scene where Mahito, packing to return to Tokyo, takes out the stone from his pocket on a whim and then puts it back in again.

“From that scene, I received something like the ‘essence of creation’. You see something, experience it, pick up its fragment, and make it a keepsake. And whenever you see it, you recall something; even if you grow unable to do so, the keepsake will never disappear. There was a line like that at the end of ‘Spirited Away’; I feel ‘a celebration-like something’ from it.”

That said, Yonezu also points out that celebration is not the only thing you see in the movie.

“In the end, the Heron explains about the stone Mahito brought back, which sounded as if he were threatening. I really felt something from that scene. It’s the notion that you can’t do anything but live the rest of your life trapped in the fact that you have witnessed and felt something that is 'a celebration and a curse at the same time’”.

Celebration and curse.

“I think I feel that way because I make music. Music makers like me live their lives chased by the notion of their experiences and what they have witnessed in their childhood when they were full of sensibilities. Maybe I can say, what they ‘happened to witness. As we repeat creating new things, we grow old, and the times change as well. And when we try to make something newer, our old memories, experiences, and old selves come after us. And there’s no way to escape the chase. So, the notion is a celebration and a curse at the same time. That’s what I felt from that scene.

“At interviews, people often ask me, ‘What do you wish to convey through this song? How do you want your listeners to interpret it?’ I always reply from random thoughts, but I wonder what they actually are. Frankly speaking, I think, ‘I don’t make music with that in mind’. I do hope that listening to my song offers a rich experience, but when I trace my inner footsteps, what really remains are the things I ‘happened to witness in my childhood’. For example, if you happen to witness something like a UFO as a kid, you will grow up and still be saying, ‘I’ve seen a UFO!’ At the end of the day, I guess the essence of creation lies in a notion that you ‘happened to witness’ something. That scene and the lyrics that go, ‘I grasped the fragment firmly, so the secret remains’ are, I think, reflections of such essence.”

The question again: “How do you live?”

After all sorts of trials and errors, “Spinning Globe” finally saw the completion and was released along with the movie “The Boy and the Heron”. Having finished this project that took him about four years, what phase is Yonezu in?

“It’s been about a month since the movie came out, and I feel, ‘this may be what a burnout syndrome is’. I grew up with Mr. Miyazaki’s movies; that project was an experience of supreme honor. I don’t think I will ever feel more honored than this, and that is the only thing I'm certain of at this time. While I feel the need to sift through the answers to questions such as ‘How will I continue making music?’ or ‘How will I face myself as I grow old along with time?’ like clearing the clutters of a room, right now I’m just idling my time away.”

Definitely a landmark. From a cultural point of view and as part of Kenshi Yonezu’s personal history, “Spinning Globe” is such a significant project. With that said, I had one more thing to ask about.

I wanted to ask Kenshi Yonezu about one of his ever-growing reputations, his “ability to interpret” seen in his songs, including “Spinning Globe”. Some people even call him “the devil of interpretations”, which derives from the words heard in the anime series “Chainsaw Man”, to which Yonezu contributed the opening theme “KICK BACK”.

“Recently, people suddenly started saying things like that to me; I also thought to myself, ‘Why?’ I don’t have a clear answer, but if there is a clue, it may be the journal I write. Every day, I jot down what I have felt that day in my journal, where I make attempts to decompose and reconstruct by words the music, manga, and movies I have come across recently. I’ve been doing that for about 15 years now. Perhaps that experience started to make good chemistry in terms of lyrics.”

What he said reminded me of the artwork of “Spinning Globe”, the original layout artwork of a scene from “The Boy and the Heron” in which Mahito sits at the desk. I cannot but also recall that the photo book bundled with the first-run-only limited edition of “Spinning Globe” included two photos laid out as a contrast, of Hayao Miyazaki and Kenshi Yonezu sitting at their respective desks, and that the recently-announced collaboration campaign between Yonezu and LOEWE featured visuals that had a set in the image of his “creative space”.

Lastly, I asked about the room where Yonezu does his creative works. “I want the room to be dark. First of all, a lightproof curtain to block the light is a must. I make the best progress with work when the room is pitch dark with the light stand the only exception.

“If I can, I want to move into a new place every time I make an album. In fact, I do move often. My home is a tentative place like, ‘I’m making this album here’. I make my home studios like a nomad.”

From one city to another. Is it to gain inspiration from a living environment, or for a switch of mood?

“Both. The inspirations I gain from the city are so huge. I think my music is influenced by the city I live in, even more than I think.”

On a summer afternoon when the sun was starting to set, the presence of Yonezu talking about his new life gave the slight hint of an umpteenth new wind. At 32 years young, Kenshi Yonezu accomplished a substantial project in his life. However, this is not a culmination.

“Spinning Globe”, “The Boy and the Heron”, and the days he stood face-to-face with Hayao Miyazaki will definitely turn into a new “fragment” of his life – a treasurable secret of his own, which has the power of both celebration and curse.

About Kenshi Yonezu

Kenshi Yonezu was born in 1991 in Tokushima Prefecture, Japan. After a series of activities from around 2009 as Vocaloid producer Hachi, he made his solo debut in 2012 with the album “diorama” under his real name and went on to make his major debut in 2012. His 2018 song “Lemon” marked the sales of over 3 million copies with physical and download combined. In 2020, he released a studio album named “STRAY SHEEP” which became a smash hit, selling over 2 million copies. In May 2022, upon marking his 10^th debut anniversary, he released the single “M87”, featuring the title track that was the theme song of the movie “Shin Ultraman”, and “POP SONG”, which was used in a PlayStation commercial. In November, he released another single entitled “KICK BACK”, whose title track was the opening theme of the TV anime series “Chainsaw Man”. In April 2023, Yonezu embarked on a nationwide tour entitled “Kenshi Yonezu 2023 TOUR / Kūsō (English title: Fantasy)”. He also released two digital singles, namely “LADY” in March, for the TV commercial for “Georgia” coffee product line, and “Moongazing” in June, as the theme song of the action role-playing game “FINAL FANTASY XVI”. And in July, he released the CD single “Spinning Globe”, whose title track is the theme song of “The Boy and the Heron”, the new movie directed by Hayao Miyazaki.