The song was written in collaboration between veteran Ghibli composer Joe Hisaishi, with lyrics by the film's supervisor Katsuya Kondō and director Hayao Miyazaki. When Hisaishi originally saw the storyboards for the film, he immediately thought up the melody for the song. However, as he believed it was too simple a melody, he did not mention it for two to three months. He eventually showed the song to Miyazaki and producer Toshio Suzuki as he could not get it out of his head. They both believed such a simple song was fitting for the film.
Promotion
Other than being promoted in commercials and in the film Ponyo, the song was used in commercials for Mitsuya Cider. Fujioka Fujimaki and Nozomi Ōhashi performed the song on the new year's song contest Kōhaku Uta Gassen, making Ōhashi the youngest participant after 59 years of airing.
Chart reception
The song was an extremely successful long-seller on Oricon's physical single charts. The song initially only charted for one week at #115 after its initial release in December 2007. It began charting again lowly in below the 100 mark at the beginning of July, and broke into the top ten at #6 by the end of July. The song then spent 11 weeks in the top 10, peaking at #3 for four weeks. The song charted in the top 50 for 15 further weeks, and finally stopped charting in the top 200 August 2009, spending more than an entire year on the charts. On the Billboard Japan Hot 100, the song peaked at #4, and was the 17th most successful song in 2008. Digitally, the song peaked at #1 on RIAJ's monthly ringtone chart, and has been certified platinum for full-length cellphone downloads and double-platinum for ringtone downloads.
Track listing
Chart positions
Certifications
English version
For the overseas release of the film, an English version retitled as "Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea" was released, sung by Noah Cyrus and Frankie Jonas. The song was released as a digital download in May 2010, despite the film being released in North America in August 2009. Two versions of this cover were created: one, a direct stylistic cover of the original version, and another upbeat pop rock remix of the song.
