Japan’s Studio Ghibli film composer Joe Hisaishi recognised for 3 Guinness World Records
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Joe Hisaishi began his career as a contemporary music composer and released his first solo album in 1982.
PHOTO: JOEHISAISHI_COMPOSER/INSTAGRAM
- Joe Hisaishi set three Guinness World Records for classical music performances at Radio City Music Hall, Hollywood Bowl, and Tokyo Dome.
- He conducted a weeklong residency featuring iconic Studio Ghibli film scores, drawing large international audiences and enthusiastic fans.
- Hisaishi began his career in 1982 and is famed for his collaborations with Hayao Miyazaki and filmmaker Takeshi Kitano, earning global acclaim.
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Joe Hisaishi, a Japanese composer and conductor known globally for his scores for Studio Ghibli animated films, was recognised in August for setting three world records, including one achieved during his week-long residency through Aug 17 at Radio City Music Hall in New York.
During the seventh and final night of his Cinema Music Concert show, he was honoured by Guinness World Records for the longest consecutive run of performances by a classical composer at the iconic venue.
After the opening performance on Aug 11, a Guinness adjudicator presented him with certificates backstage for two other records: highest-selling single run for classical music at the Hollywood Bowl amphitheatre in Los Angeles, and most tickets sold by a classical composer during a run at Tokyo Dome in Japan.
“I’ve just been taking things one step at a time. At first, I was doing this in Japan, and then when I started doing it around the world, people all over the world accepted it,” the 75-year-old told Kyodo News.
“Before I knew it, people were coming to my concerts in numbers that even classical musicians and orchestral performers here probably couldn’t draw,” he added.
According to Guinness World Records, Hisaishi’s three performances from July 21 to 23 at the Hollywood Bowl, where he conducted the Los Angeles Philharmonic, sold 45,538 tickets.
The Studio Ghibli Film Concert Tour Final at the Tokyo sports arena on July 16 and 17, 2025, racked up total sales of 133,453 tickets.
For a week in August, Hisaishi conducted the New York-based MasterVoices choir and the Orchestra of St Luke’s at Radio City Music Hall, a roughly 6,000-seat venue in Midtown Manhattan, according to Madison Square Garden Entertainment.
Upon hearing the opening bars of familiar songs from anime films directed by Hayao Miyazaki, including Nausicaa Of The Valley Of The Wind (1984), My Neighbor Totoro (1988), Princess Mononoke (1997) and the Oscar-winning Spirited Away (2001), the audience erupted in cheers.
Hisaishi introduced his daughter, who sang as he played the piano for One Summer’s Day, an iconic theme from Spirited Away, prompting thunderous applause.
Scenes from the films were projected on three screens hanging from the auditorium ceiling.
Some fans who knew of Hisaishi through his music in Miyazaki films made their way to New York City from other US states.
Miles Gooden, 31, travelled with his family of five from Washington on a one-day bus trip to attend the concert. He said he was excited to hear the main theme from Howl’s Moving Castle (2004), “which is beautiful – and honestly anything from Spirited Away”.
Hisaishi, whose real name is Mamoru Fujisawa, began his career as a contemporary music composer with an interest in minimalism, releasing his first solo album in 1982.
He adopted his stage name in homage to American jazz artist and music producer Quincy Jones, whom he admired.
Hisaishi’s collaborations with Miyazaki began with Nausicaa Of The Valley Of The Wind.
He has also composed music for works by Japanese film-maker and comedian Takeshi Kitano, including the 1997 crime drama Hana-bi, which won the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival that year. KYODO NEWS
