Seven Japanese health secrets that will help you live to 100

In September 2026, Japan announced that the number of its population who are aged 100 or over has surpassed a record-breaking 100,000. Women make up the majority (88 per cent) of this lucky 107,677. Here, we speak to a 106-year-old woman from Hiroshima. She reveals the habits that have helped her live for over a century. What is the secret to living a long and happy life? If anyone would know, it’d be Tetsuyo Ishii. Also known as Granny Tetsuyo, she was born in 1920 in Japan and has lived in a mountain town in Hiroshima since 1946, when she married her husband. She worked as a teacher until she was 56 years old, and doesn’t have children of her own. Ever since her husband died, when she was 83, she has been living an independent life – one that has stretched well into her second century. Granny Tetsuyo did not consider this to be remarkable until she was interviewed by a local paper in 2020, aged 100. She became a local celebrity, stealing people’s hearts through her sense of humour, her pragmatism and her refreshingly simple approach to living. Even now, she doesn’t see herself as exceptional. As she puts it: “Eating, sleeping and chatting are my special skills.” Shorts If there is a secret to longevity, Granny Tetsuyo shows that it doesn’t lie in expensive, invasive treatments or complicated protocols. Instead, it lies in knowing yourself and embracing the every day, as shown through her diaries and interviews, published now as Happy on Her Own at 102 (her age at the time of original Japanese release). Here are her key lessons for a healthy and long life that she shares in her book. Move what you can while you can Movement is crucial to Tetsuyo. The motto she holds closest to her heart is: “Be like a hoe that never rusts.” Always keep moving and take advantage of your physicality while you have it. For example, she folds up her bedding every day and stretches whenever she remembers. She cherishes her independence. The hoe is not just metaphorical here, either. Tetsuyo regularly pulls up the weeds in her fields, planting and harvesting the plants that feed her, and as time goes on she adjusts to reflect her new limitations. Her neighbours and nieces regularly support her, but they crucially do not do the movement for her. Granny Tetsuyo was born in 1920 and is the subject of a new book on how to live longer By the same token, she does brain puzzles daily, and reads a lot. She keeps a dictionary on hand to look up words that she doesn’t know and is always gobbling up new knowledge. “Ever since I was young I’ve always wanted to be like a hoe that never rusts,” she writes. “People get rusty if they’re not doing something, don’t they? If you continue to use your body, your head and your emotions, they’ll never rust.” Connect with others every day While she lives on her own, Tetsuyo is far from alone. She is always visited by (or visiting) friends, neighbours, relatives and even old students who were under 10 when she taught them – they are now deep into their eighties. Tetsuyo doesn’t care for the modern conveniences that reduce every point of friction. She describes visiting the bank to get money out with her niece, for example, as very unpleasant because it was a cold machine, not a person to talk to. In fact, forging connections between people is so important to her, she still attends the “friendship club” that she started in 1973. The purpose was to bring together the local women who were otherwise isolated. They meet regularly and also hold an annual day of consolation to remember the friends that have passed and keep their memory alive – something she believes must be done collectively. “There is a limit to how much sadness one person can bear at a time,” she writes. “That’s why we share that burden together and support that person’s deep sadness.” Celebrate simple ingredients Tetsuyo’s diet is a very simple and traditional one. She eats largely from the land, enjoying seasonal produce and relishes sticking to the same recipes. Small dried sardines, vegetables and rice feature heavily. She eats miso soup every morning, savours every bite and announces each meal to herself – every afternoon, for example, she’ll say to herself: “Time for a little snack.” Rather than seeing this as limiting, she finds joy in every meal: “After all, I grew up in an age when there wasn’t much food to go around… I do the same thing most days, but I realise now just what a blessing that repetition is.” If there is a secret to longevity, Tetsuyo Ishii shows that it doesn’t lie in expensive, invasive treatments or complicated protocols Find joy wherever you can Rather than being frustrated by her limitations, Tetsuyo endeavours to find joy in the simplest, smallest things. The taste of her morning soup. The fact she has neighbours who watch out for her. Making her favourite sweet treat with her niece. She makes sure to name and appreciate each of these moments. Not only does it make her life more joyful, but she believes it serves a wider purpose. “The older generation needs to set an example for the young. We should be full of smiles so that they think: ‘Getting old seems kind of fun, actually.’ We need to be the ones who bring joy to, and cheer up society.” Cherish, but do not cling Throughout her writings and interviews, it is clear that Tetsuyo cares deeply about other people. When she was teaching, she made sure to imbue those children’s days with tenderness as their parents who toiled to provide for them could not. This deep love for people, however, also means accepting that things change, even with those you love the most. Every night she says goodnight to a picture of her husband that she has placed by her bed and while she misses him, she accepts that he is not with her right now. Thanks to their shared Buddhist faith, she feels at peace with the certainty he is watching her. Be practical Despite working hard to maintain her independence. Tetsuyo knows her limits. She is not afraid to ask for support in harvesting the rice, or reach out to her nieces when she is troubled by unexpected pain. Ever practical, she has prepared a death book to provide clear instructions to her relatives when she does die – she doesn’t want to avoid the subject and then become a burden to them when she’s gone. Treat emotions as something to be processed, not denied Just as she does not want her body or her mind to rust, Tetsuyo makes a conscious effort to work through her emotions by writing them down and choosing how to respond to them. “Feeling pathetic, feeling down, that’s still part of you,” she says. “It’s up to you whether you drag these emotions along behind you or cut them off. You are the only one who can take care of your heart. I want to remain ever diligent, no matter how old I get.” She advocates becoming the master of cheering up your own heart – by accepting your worries, by writing them down and by always looking for the brighter perspective. And if that doesn’t work, it’s time to get moving, once again. “If you waste energy complaining, you’ll only weaken your heart and body,” Tetsuyo says. “When I feel myself getting upset, I find a chore that needs doing and get my body moving.”