 On 10 September 2008 , three days before the Japanese premiere of Departures , a soundtrack album for the film — containing nineteen tracks from the film and featuring an orchestral performance by members of the Tokyo Metropolitan and NHK Symphony Orchestras — was released by Universal Music Japan . Pop singer Ai provided lyrics to music by Hisaishi for the image song " Okuribito / So Special " ; performed by Ai with an arrangement for cellos and orchestra , the single was released by Universal Sigma on 10 September 2008 along with a promotional video . Sheet music for the film 's soundtrack was published by KMP in 2008 ( for cello and piano ) and Onkyō in 2009 ( for cello , violin , and piano ) . 
