It lasts just 45 seconds and contains about half a dozen words, but the infuriatingly catchy Pen-Pineapple-Apple-Pen (PPAP) has propelled the Japanese artist Piko-Taro into the Guinness World Records after his song became a viral hit, reports The Guardian.

Piko-Taro, the alter ego of the comedian and DJ Daimaou Kosaka, on Friday saw his song listed by Guinness as the shortest song ever to make it into the Billboard Hot 100, helped by an endorsement from Justin Bieber.

Dressed in his trademark animal-print shirt and trousers, the unlikely pop star said he had been stunned by the reaction to his song, which he put together in a few hours.

“In the past I was accustomed to performing in front of audiences of between zero and one person,” the 43-year-old joked at a packed press conference at the foreign correspondents’ club of Japan.

“And then this happens … the internet is a wonderful thing.”

PPAP, which cost just 100,000 yen (£780) to produce, has spawned countless cover versions, and its catchy tune is now lodged inside the heads of millions of fans in Japan and across Asia.

The novelty song – which some interpret as a gentle dig at the way English is taught in Japanese schools – first caught the attention of junior high school pupils after its YouTube release at the end of August.

My favorite video on the internet