The world's oldest female barber is 108 years old. But the thin, white-haired Japanese woman, Shitsui Hakoishi, says she has no plans to retire anytime soon.

Hakoishi has been named the world’s oldest female barber by the Guinness World Records. She said the recent recognition by the international organization brought her much joy. She was presented with an official document confirming her record.

Guinness World Records has a separate category for male barbers. But the 107-year-old man who held that title from 2018, Anthony Mancinelli of the United States, has died. That leaves Hakoishi as the only holder of the record.

Her career has lasted 90 years and she says she owes it all to her customers . "I could come this far only because of my customers," Hakoishi told a news conference in her hometown of Nakagawa, northeast of Tokyo.

Born on Nov. 10, 1916, to a family of farmers in Nakagawa, Hakoishi decided to become a barber at age 14 and moved to Tokyo, where she developed her skills first as an apprentice .

She got her barber's license at 20 and opened a shop together with her husband. They had two children before he was killed in the Japan-China war that broke out in 1937.

Hakoishi lost her shop in the deadly March 10, 1945 U.S. firebombing of Tokyo. Before that, Guinness says, she and her children were moved out of the city for safety.

It took her eight more years before she opened a shop again, calling it Rihatsu Hakoishi. Rihatsu is Japanese for barber.

Hakoishi says she is not ready to stop cutting hair. "I am turning 109 this year, so I will keep going until I reach 110," she said with a smile .

I’m Jill Robbins.

Mari Yamaguchi reported this story for the Associated Press. Jill Robbins adapted it for Learning English.

Words in This Story

category – n. a group of people or things that are similar in some way

customer – n. someone who buys goods or services from a business

overwhelm – v. to affect (someone) very strongly

apprentice – n. a person who learns a job or skill by working for a fixed period of time for someone who is very good at that job or skill

license – n. an official document, card, etc., that gives you permission to do, use, or have something

smile – n. an expression on your face that makes the corners of your mouth turn up and that shows happiness, amusement, pleasure, or affection

What do you think of this story? Write to us in the Comments Section.