108-year-old Japanese woman is crowned the oldest barber in the world

At the astonishing age of 108, Shitsui Hakoishi has been certified as the world's oldest female barber.

Her impressive title was confirmed by LongeviQuest.

Shitsui's salon is around a three-hour drive from Tokyo, located on the fringe of Tochigi Prefecture surrounded by mountains. In her compact workspace, one will find vintage items such as a pair of scissors that she has been using since the pre-war period.

She was born to a family of farmers on 10 November 1916, when the world was still in the midst of the First World War.

Shitsui decided to become a barber at the age of 14 when her friend's mother asked whether she would like to become an apprentice at a hair salon in Tokyo. She packed her bags and headed to the city, all on her own.

In 1934, at the age of 18, Shitsui passed the barber examination and soon became a popular barber at the shops she worked in.

Shitsui married Jiro at the age of 24, and opened her own salon with her husband and they were later blessed with two children.

But tragedy soon struck. Jiro was conscripted to the army during the Second Sino-Japanese War and died. Shitsui's salon, which doubled as her family home, was reduced to ashes during the bombing of Tokyo by the US military.

Thankfully, both Shitsui and her children were safe as they had already evacuated to her hometown in Tochigi.

In 1953, Shitsui opened salon Rihatsu Hakoishi in Nakagawa-machi, and she is working there to this day.

In an interview with Tennen-Seikatsu, Shitsui said she sticks to "three nevers": never hold a grudge, never be jealous, and never fight with others. This was something Shitsui's mother had taught her. In the same interview, she said that hurting others will always come back to hurt you.

Shitsui spends most of her time in a care home, yet she is still able to look after herself. And whenever her old clients ring up for a haircut, she will be there.

Becoming a Guinness World Records title holder was at the top of Shitsui's to-do lists in recent years, and she is glad to have finally ticked this one off.