Ghibli film composer Joe Hisaishi sets 3 Guinness World Records for live performances
Hisaishi, who wrote scores for Studio Ghibli animations including Spirited Away, has been honoured for achievements in live classical music
Joe Hisaishi, a Japanese composer and conductor known globally for his scores for Studio Ghibli animated films, has been recognised this month for setting three world records, including one achieved during his recent week-long residency at Radio City Music Hall in New York City.
During the seventh and final night of his “Cinema Music Concert” show on August 17, Hisaishi was honoured by Guinness World Records for the longest consecutive run of performances by a classical composer at the iconic venue.
Earlier, after the opening performance on August 11, a Guinness adjudicator presented him with certificates backstage for two other records: the highest-selling single run for classical music at the Hollywood Bowl amphitheatre in Los Angeles and the 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,” Hisaishi, 75, says. “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. Before I knew it, people were coming to my concerts in numbers that even classical musicians and orchestral performers here probably couldn’t draw.”
According to Guinness World Records, Hisaishi’s three performances from July 21 to 23 of this year at the Hollywood Bowl, where he conducted the Los Angeles Philharmonic, sold 45,538 tickets, while 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.