Johannesburg: SiltaNews – News Desk
In the quiet corridors of Nara Prefecture’s oldest clinic, time seems to bend around the presence of Dr. Shigeko Kagawa. At 114 years old, she is not only Asia’s oldest living person but also a living archive of Japan’s medical and cultural evolution. Born in 1911, Shigeko’s life has spanned two world wars, the rise and fall of empires, and the digital revolution. Yet her voice, though softened by age, carries the clarity of someone who never stopped listening.
“I remember the first time I delivered a baby,” she says, her fingers tracing the rim of a porcelain teacup. “It was 1934. The mother was terrified. I was terrified. But we both knew we had to be brave.” Shigeko became one of Japan’s first female obstetrician-gynecologists at a time when women in medicine were rare. Her career unfolded alongside the country’s post-war reconstruction, and she often worked in makeshift clinics, treating women with little more than gauze and conviction. Her reputation for calm under pressure earned her a place on the emergency medical team at the 1970 Osaka Expo, where she coordinated care for thousands of visitors.
“I never thought of myself as a pioneer,” she says. “I just did what needed to be done. The babies came, the mothers cried, and I stayed.” In 2021, at the age of 109, Shigeko became the oldest Olympic torchbearer in history. Footage of her slow but determined steps through the streets of Nara went viral, drawing admiration from across the globe. When asked about the moment, she laughs softly. “I thought they were joking. But then I saw the flame. It reminded me of all the lives I’ve helped bring into the world. It felt right.”
Her daily routine now includes morning walks, calligraphy practice, and a weekly visit from her great-granddaughter, who is studying midwifery. The family home is filled with photographs, many of them black-and-white, showing Shigeko in crisp uniforms, surrounded by nurses and newborns. “I tell my great-granddaughter: don’t chase perfection. Chase presence. Be there. That’s what matters.” When asked about the secret to her longevity, Shigeko shrugs. “I never rushed. I ate miso soup. I forgave people. And I never stopped working. Even when I retired, I kept writing, kept teaching. Life is not something you finish. It’s something you tend.”
Her words echo like a quiet anthem for resilience. In a world obsessed with speed and spectacle, Shigeko Kagawa remains a testament to the power of quiet defiance, of care over conquest, and of a life lived in service to others.
