Autumn MondoCon 2026 promises to be a special event for several reasons. For one, there will be two major concerts connected to the con:
- Ghibli classical music concert on Friday, featuring Azumi Inoue and her daughter.
- Who-ya Extended J-rock/pop concert on Saturday, featuring the singer behind the Jujutsu Kaisen opening theme. You can read more here.
What should you know about the Ghibli concert?
The concert will take place as MondoCon’s official pre-event on October 16, Friday, starting at 5:30 PM. This is the only program connected to the con that requires a separate ticket. You can read more about this and the concert details here. The concert will feature Azumi Inoue and her daughter, Yuyu performing classic Ghibli songs you may know from films such as My Neighbor Totoro or Castle in the Sky.
You can also purchase a combined MondoCon ticket for the Friday Ghibli concert, which is valid for the Friday concert as well as both days of MondoCon.
But the concert experience does not end on Friday.
Panel discussion and mini concert on Saturday at the con
At noon on Saturday, October 17, Azumi and Yuyu will return to the MondoCon Main Stage! You can listen to a short conversation with the legendary singer, who was personally chosen by Hayao Miyazaki to bring the songs of his anime films to life with her voice.
The conversation will also be accompanied by a small mini concert: Azumi will perform the unforgettable song from My Neighbor Totoro, “My Neighbor Totoro” (Tonari no Totoro). This way, those who could not attend Friday’s concert can still enjoy part of the experience.
Meet Azumi Inoue, the legendary voice of Ghibli
Azumi Inoue originally dreamed of becoming an idol. At just 14, she reached the final round of an audition, but ultimately was not selected. Still, she did not give up on her dream: she debuted as a singer in 1983, although she had to wait a few more years for her big breakthrough.
Three years later, she won an audition that would change her life forever. She was personally chosen by Hayao Miyazaki, which led to her performing the now-legendary songs from Castle in the Sky, and later My Neighbor Totoro. Her voice became inseparably linked with the world of Studio Ghibli for generations of fans.
Decades later, however, an unexpected event interrupted her career. On August 26, 2023, the day of her 40th anniversary concert, she suffered a brain hemorrhage during the dress rehearsal. She was rushed to hospital, where she underwent emergency surgery, followed by five months of hospitalization and a long period of rehabilitation. The hemorrhage left the left side of her body paralyzed.
But Azumi did not give up this time either. In November 2024, she returned to the stage in a wheelchair, now alongside her daughter, Yuyu. More than a year after her brain hemorrhage, she once again sang in front of an audience, continuing a career whose best-known songs are now recognized around the world as Studio Ghibli classics.
Yuyu, who found her own voice at an early age
Like her mother, Yuyu is also a singer, but her path has not been an easy one either. She was only three years old when she was diagnosed with leukemia and spent 6 months in hospital. She made a full recovery after treatment.
She later recalled that period: “I developed leukemia when I was three, but I made a full recovery and was able to reach my 15th birthday. I want people who are fighting illness right now to know that there are people who recover and go on to achieve their dreams, just as I did.”
Music had been part of her life from a very early age. At the age of 5, while still in kindergarten, she performed the “Nausicaä Requiem” on her mother’s album of Ghibli songs. At the age of 6, a demo recording she made herself led to her debut on a popular music program on Japan’s public broadcaster. The song was so well received that, unusually, it continued to be aired repeatedly for six months.
Her musical career continued: a song she released in 2013 reached 600,000 views on YouTube within ten months.
Today, at 21, she not only performs alongside her mother: she fronts her own rock band, MaguroNikan while studying at a music academy. Since Azumi’s return in 2024, mother and daughter have also been performing together, allowing the story of these Ghibli songs to continue across two generations.