The film, titled Kikujirō no Natsu (Kikujiro’s Summer), follows a young boy named Masao who embarks on a journey across the Japanese countryside to find his mother. He is accompanied by Kikujiro, a surly, irresponsible petty crook played by Kitano himself.
In the vast ocean of film scores, there are themes that merely accompany a scene, and then there are melodies that transcend the screen entirely—becoming cultural touchstones, therapy anthems, and the very definition of nostalgia. Joe Hisaishi’s “Summer,” composed for the 1999 road movie Kikujiro , belongs to the latter category. joe hisaishi kikujiro summer
Summer (Joe Hisaishi) Sheet Music for Piano (Solo) - MuseScore.com The film, titled Kikujirō no Natsu (Kikujiro’s Summer),
The melody follows a classic call-and-response structure. Joe Hisaishi’s “Summer,” composed for the 1999 road
The collaboration between Joe Hisaishi and Kikujiro Summer has left a lasting impact on both the film and music industries. The score has been widely praised for its innovative blend of traditional and Western musical elements, and its influence can be seen in many subsequent film scores.
Table_title: Score info Table_content: header: | Credits | Eligible | row: | Credits: Duration | Eligible: 02:24 | row: | Credits: MuseScore.com Joe Hisaishi Best Of - playlist by Milan Records - Spotify
In the 2010s and 2020s, “Summer” experienced a renaissance independent of the film. It became the unofficial soundtrack to "aesthetic" compilations on YouTube—loops of cicadas buzzing, anime girls running through wheat fields, or glitched VHS footage of swimming pools.