Tetsuko Kuroyanagi’s Childhood Memoir Sets Guinness World Record for Most Published Autobiography

The Yomiuri Shimbun

16:40 JST, December 18, 2023

Actor Tetsuko Kuroyanagi’s memoir “Madogiwa no Totto-chan” (Totto-chan: The Little Girl at the Window) has been certified by Guinness World Records as the most published autobiography by a single author. The record number of copies stands at 25,113,862 worldwide as of the end of September.

First released in 1981, the book is an autobiography in which the 90-year-old Kuroyanagi recounts her memories of school life at Tomoe Gakuen. A sequel was published this October, and an animated film version was released this month.

Presented with a certificate on Thursday, Kuroyanagi expressed her joy, saying: “I am truly happy to receive recognition for a book I began writing just wanting to record my childhood. I hope children and young people will read it, treat others with kindness and realize that it’s okay to think freely.”