Shigeaki Hinohara

Japanese doctor, almost 100 years old and still practicing (1911- )

Shigeaki Hinohara

Famous for his recipe for living a long life

Has been working at St. Luke’s International Hospital (Tokyo) and teaching at St. Luke’s College of Nursing since 1941

Was passenger on a jet that was hijacked in 1970 and then dedicated his life to helping people

Set up the Life Planning Center in 1973 (motto: “lifelong health”)

Helped save and restore the Massachusetts home of Manjiro Nakahama (John Manjiro, the first Japanese person to live in the USA, 1843) and today.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090505/NEWS/905050346/-1/NEWS">gave the dedication in May 2009.

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New Old People’s Movement

Seeks “healthy people 75 years and older” to be part of his new “movement.”

When we reach 75 we should start something new in order to discover those unused genes and develop them. It could be painting, or making music, writing poetry, sports or volunteer activities. One of my patients in his 60’s had been admitted to St. Luke’s with cancer, and was getting neurotic with anxiety over the disease. So I suggested he try to find something he enjoyed, like painting. He tried to avoid the issue, saying he was too clumsy with things. But once he took up the brush, his talent came out, and 10 years later he was holding his own one-man exhibitions and winning awards.

Books, interviews, advice and writing

Published more than 150 books since turning 75

Honohara’s famous words of wisdom, a simple formula for longevity

Interview with the Tokyo International Forum: “At 75, we should develop genes we have never used and keep challenging the new!”

How to Live Well (2001) (original title: How To Die Well; Japanese, Ikikata Jozu or “Good At Living”)

Ongaku no Iyashi no Chikara (The Healing Power of Music)

Ikiru koto no shitsu

Oi o hajimeru

Oi to shi no juyo

Gendai igaku to shukyo (Sosho gendai no shukyo)

Inochi no utsuwa: Jinsei o jibunrashiku ikiru

Inochi o mitsumete

“Iyashi” no waza no pafomansu

Osler’s peregrinations in Asia: A report on an unusual event

Wrote stage adaption for the picture-book Happa no Freddy (Freddy the Leaf) (2000)

Wrote the forward to Art and Nature: Healing Design for Health in the UK & Japan, a book containing the work of over 70 archictects on health care design

Co-edited Osler’s A Way of Life and Other Addresses, with Commentary and Annotations

Mentioned in , Caregivers: Drowning in a Sea of Cognitive Challenges, First to Arrive: State and Local Responses to Terrorism, Metamorphoses: Memoirs of a Life in Medicine, and other books.

For further reference


First published on May 6th, 2009 at 2:24 pm (EST) and last modified on May 6th, 2009 at 2:26 pm (EST).