 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).
