Departures

The soundtrack to the Japanese drama film directed by Yōjirō Takita featured musical score written and produced by Joe Hisaishi and featured orchestral performances from the Tokyo Metropolitan and NHK Symphony Orchestras. It was released as on 10 September 2008, three days before the film's release, by A&M Records. Also preceding the album, is the image song "Okuribito", the film's title theme, performed by Ai, being released on the same date. Development Before filming began, Yōjirō Takita asked him to prepare a soundtrack which would represent the separation between Daigo and his father, as well as the mortician's love for his wife. Owing to the importance of cellos and cello music in the narrative, Hisaishi emphasized the instrument in his soundtrack; he described the challenge of centring a score around the cello as one of the most difficult things he had ever done. This score was played during shooting, which according to Takita "allowed [the crew] to visualize many of the emotions in the film" and thus contributed to the quality of the finished work. Promotional single The title theme is the image song for the film, that had been composed by Hisaishi with lyrics written and performed by Ai. After watching the preview of the film, she worked closely with Hisaishi to add lyrics to the instrumental piece he composed. She initially felt nervous on the kind of lyrics that suits the film, but felt respected on working with the composer, who assisted her on the music. Hisaishi further arranged the cellos and orchestral pieces. The single was released by Universal Sigma and Island Records on 10 September 2008 along with a promotional video. However, Ai performed the track live on 6 September at the Music Fair 21.