Fuyo Kishimoto

BIOGRAPHY

Fuyo Kishimoto(Japanese: 岸本ふよ) was born in Hamasaka (now part of the town of Shin’onsen), Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan, on 20 December 1911. She was the only daughter born to parents Ritaro and Koto Kishimoto.

In December 1940, she got married for the second time, and her husband was adopted as a son-in-law to inherit the Kishimoto family name. Their second daughter was born in 1941. Her husband lost his life in action during World War II in 1943, leaving her to raise their two children on her own. According to her family, she was a hard worker who supported her family by engaging in hard labor alongside men in the mountains and at mine sites. Around 1956, when her second daughter graduated from a girls’ school and started pursuing her own independence, Kishimoto became a live-in staff member at an inn in Toyooka, Hyogo Prefecture, where she worked for about 16 years.

After turning 60, she relocated to Kyoto Prefecture, where her second daughter’s family resided. She then assumed the role of a cook at a school lunch center, a position she held until her mid-80s. During this time, for around 25 years, she walked from her residence to her workplace every day, without ever missing a day of work. According to her family, she worked tirelessly from morning till night from the end of World War II until she reached her mid-80s. She held strong religious beliefs and dedicated three hours each day to the reading of sutras.

At the age of 99, she fractured a femur, and the following year, at the age of 100, she sustained a similar injury in her other femur, prompting her move into a nursing home. As a centenarian, she would sometimes enjoy McDonald’s hamburgers and McShakes, which her family would bring to the nursing home. At the age of 103, her health deteriorated to the point where she could hardly eat. Her doctor initially gave a grim prognosis, but to everyone’s surprise, she made a complete recovery. At the age of 112, she manages to eat regular meals independently, enjoys sugary sweet coffee and sweet crackers, and lives independently with minimal assistance from nursing staff. According to her family, she has a gentle personality and always expresses gratitude to her family and those around her.

RECOGNITION

In September 2023, she was reported as the third-oldest living person in Kyoto Prefecture.

Her age was verified by Japan’s Ministry of Health, Labour, and Welfare (MHLW), as well as Yumi Yamamoto and Miyuki Omae, and validated by LongeviQuest on 22 October 2023.