Living Alone and Thriving: Documentary of 104-Year-Old Japanese Woman Offers Lessons for Life

Tetsuyo celebrates her 104th birthday on April 29, 2024. She turned 105 after the film’s release. (© 104-Hitori Production Committee)

Relatives and neighbors came to welcome Tetsuyo home from the hospital. (© 104-Hitori Production Committee)

Tetsuyo visits her family grave. (© 104-Hitori Production Committee)

Director Yamamoto Kazuhiro. (© Nippon.com)

Tetsuyo chops spring onions with a well-worn knife. (© 104-Hitori Production Committee)

Tetsuyo faces backward as she descends the steep slope from her house, which she does to keep from falling. (© 104-Hitori Production Committee)

Tetsuyo sings a graduation song for former students. (© 104-Hitori Production Committee)

Tetsuyo brushes off worries about a leg problem, saying that it is nothing to be worried about. (© 104-Hitori Production Committee)

(© 104-Hitori Production Committee)