Track 3: "Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind"

Director Miyazaki, what do you think? ──

Haruomi HosonoShall we listen to Sakamoto's version?

Ryuichi SakamotoShall we? I covered it because I liked the original sung by Narumi Yasuda...

HosonoI liked it too.

SakamotoIt's a bit of a controversial one; apparently, Director Hayao Miyazaki didn't like it.

HosonoSo I hear. I met the director once before making it. We talked about Nausicaä. I had the storyboards too. When I was making the song, I asked him various things, like "Does this have a feel of Eastern Europe?" Perhaps I was off the mark (laughs). Our tastes probably didn't align. The Narumi Yasuda version wasn't used in the film, was it?

SakamotoBut Narumi Yasuda's voice sounds like Nausicaä...

HosonoShe was still very young then, just debuted. I gave her vocal coaching. Shall we listen?

SakamotoThen, for "Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind," it's Ryuichi Sakamoto + Takako Minekawa.

HosonoI love the intro. This really gets me, too.



HosonoHe knows those things very well.

SakamotoHe's an otaku.

HosonoTruly like a young Japanese person, a Japanese person.

SakamotoHe's into old Japanese films, like those by director Koji Wakamatsu, and he's quite unique. Now he lives in Japan because of this passion. He left the band Sonic Youth to live in Japan; he's like a god of otaku culture.

HosonoExactly, a nerd.

SakamotoHe's arranged "Furai Bo" in a Van Dyke Parks style.

HosonoThis is also worth listening to. I'll listen to all the good parts (laughs).

SakamotoThe sound is incredible, too.

HosonoBut it's close in approach to "Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind," isn't it?

──DISC 2
10. "Furai Bo" Jim O'Rourke + Kahimi Karie



HosonoHe can do things like that too, huh?

SakamotoWhat an annoying guy (laughs).

HosonoHe's a very humble young man (laughs).

──To be continued with Track 4, "Sanji no Komoriuta"
──Ryuichi Sakamoto | Ryuichi Sakamoto × Haruomi Hosono (1) here
──Ryuichi Sakamoto | Ryuichi Sakamoto × Haruomi Hosono (2) here