By South China Morning Post | Created at 2025-03-12 10:16:44 | Updated at 2025-03-12 15:39:38
5 hours ago
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.
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.
Today, she continues to provide hairdressing services to a few loyal customers each month, stating that she “has no plans to stop working.”
