Latest news with #ShitsuiHakoishi
Times
09-05-2025
- General
- Times
My haircut with the world's oldest barber — still sharp at 108
In all ways but one, a haircut by Shitsui Hakoishi is a reassuringly familiar experience. Her small salon has the usual white gowns and towels, the chrome and leather chair and the sterilising cabinet. The barber snips and sculpts deftly, and even has a nice line in ego-massaging banter. 'You must have charmed the ladies,' she observes, with keen insight, 'before you went grey.' One thing sets this apart from every other haircut I have ever had: Hakoishi is 108 years old. Born in 1916 at the height of the First World War, she is still taming sideburns and reassuring men about their bald patches after almost a century on the job. The scissors she uses, ground down by decades of sharpening, are the pair
Wall Street Journal
20-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Wall Street Journal
Congratulations, You're the Oldest Person in Your Town. Now Prove It.
Ben Meyers heard about a Japanese woman believed to be the world's oldest barber at 106. So he sent a colleague to her salon outside of Tokyo for a haircut. He wanted to know if Shitsui Hakoishi's story checked out.
South China Morning Post
12-03-2025
- Entertainment
- South China Morning Post
‘World's oldest female barber', 108, inspires with wisdom ‘hold no grudges, feel no jealousy'
A 108-year-old Japanese woman has been honoured by the Guinness World Records as the 'world's oldest female barber', having dedicated 94 years to her craft and continues to inspire many on social media. Advertisement On March 5, the centenarian Shitsui Hakoishi, who operates a barbershop in Nakagawa, Tochigi Prefecture, received this prestigious recognition from the Guinness World Records. Hakoishi embarked on her nine-decade-long career in 1931 when she left her hometown for Tokyo, becoming an apprentice at a small salon and obtaining her barber's licence at the age of 20. Later, she married and opened her own barbershop with her husband in Tokyo in 1939. However, her life took a tragic turn during World War II when she lost her husband and her salon was destroyed in an air raid. Despite the hardships, she refused to bow to fate. In 1953, she returned to Nakagawa and established another barbershop. Advertisement Today, she continues to provide hairdressing services to a few loyal customers each month, stating that she 'has no plans to stop working.'
Asharq Al-Awsat
07-03-2025
- Sport
- Asharq Al-Awsat
Japanese Barber, 108, Crowned World's Oldest
A 108-year-old Japanese woman has been certified the world's oldest barber, Guinness World Records said -- and she has pledged to keep working until at least 110. Shitsui Hakoishi, born in 1916, decided to become a barber at the age of 14 when a friend's mother asked if she wanted to become an apprentice at a hair salon in Tokyo. She still holds her own scissors, and took part this week in a celebration ceremony reportedly attended by her two children, an 85-year-old daughter and an 81-year-old son. "I'm very happy. My heart is full," she said at the ceremony in Nakagawa, a town in the eastern region of Tochigi. Guinness World Records told AFP on Friday that the oldest barber category is split into male and female categories, but the oldest male barber -- Anthony Mancinelli, who worked in New York until at least 107 years old -- has now passed away. Hakoishi married in her early 20s and opened a salon with her husband, but he was conscripted during World War II and died. The salon, which doubled as her family home, "was reduced to ashes during the bombing of Tokyo by the US military", Guinness said in a statement. Hakoishi and her children survived, however, as they had evacuated to her hometown of Nakagawa. Several years after the war, Hakoishi opened a new salon in Nakagawa, where she works to this day and where old clients sometimes ring up to book a haircut. While she now lives in a care home, she is still able to look after herself. She was one of the Tokyo Olympics torchbearers in 2021, walking around 200 meters (yards), according to regional broadcaster Tochigi TV. Asked about her future goals, she said that she turns 109 this year but wants to "work hard until 110".
The Independent
06-03-2025
- General
- The Independent
Why a 108-year-old barber has no plans to retire anytime soon
At 108 years old, most people are enjoying a well-earned retirement. But Shitsui Hakoishi, a slender, white-haired Japanese woman, is not most people. Ms Hakoishi, officially recognised this week by Guinness World Records as the world's oldest female barber, has no intention of hanging up her shears anytime soon. The official certificate, presented Wednesday, brought Hakoishi immense joy – second only, she said, to the satisfaction of her loyal clientele. While Guinness recognises both male and female barbers, the previous oldest male barber, Anthony Mancinelli of the United States, died after his certification in 2018 at age 107. This leaves Ms Hakoishi as the sole record holder. Ms Hakoishi's career has spanned nine decades, a testament to her dedication and the enduring relationships she's built with her customers. 'I could come this far only because of my customers,' she shared during a televised news conference held Wednesday at a gymnasium in her hometown of Nakagawa, located in the Tochigi prefecture, northeast of Tokyo. 'I'm overwhelmed and filled with joy.' Born into a farming family in Nakagawa on November 10, 1916, Ms Hakoishi's path diverged from tradition at the age of 14 when she decided to pursue barbering. Relocating to Tokyo, she honed her skills as an apprentice, eventually earning her barber's licence at 20. She then opened a salon with her husband, starting a family and having two children. However, her husband was killed after the Japan-China war broke out in 1937. Ms Hakoishi lost her salon in the deadly March 10, 1945 U.S. firebombing of Tokyo. Before that, she and her children were evacuated elsewhere in the Tochigi prefecture, according to the Guinness website. It took her eight more years before she opened a salon again, calling it Rihatsu Hakoishi, in her hometown of Nakagawa. Rihatsu is Japanese for barber. She says she isn't ready to put away her scissors. 'I am turning 109 this year, so I will keep going until I reach 110," she said and smiled confidently.
