His rise to fame began in 1980 after he and a partner, Noritake Kinashi, won the grand prize on Nippon TV's "Comedy Star Search" show with their act, "Tunnels." Since then, his largest impact has been on television, where he's starred in numerous comedies and dramas. Ishibashi's highly-rated shows run concurrently on Japanese television. He stars on "Hammer Price," "Tunnels, Thanks to Everyone" and "Neruton" (all on the Fuji Network) and "Tunnels Live" on Nippon TV.

Ishibashi hosted Japan's highest-rated radio talk show, "All Night Nippon," on the Nippon Broadcasting Network and has recorded a number of albums. His single, "Gara Gara Hebi," sold nearly 2,000,000 units.

Ishibashi has starred in the Japanese feature film "Sorobanzuku," which was a huge hit at the Japanese box office, and appeared in the American film "Steal Big, Steal Little," starring Andy Garcia.