98 years farming the same land: Shigeshio Izumi retires at 105

He worked 98 years and retired at 105: the lesson of Shigeshio Izumi

Shigeshio Izumi worked for 98 years straight. Born in 1870, he started helping in the fields at age 7 and retired at 105. The story, rescued as an example of rural endurance, has something of an epic about it — and a great deal of nightmare for any modern salaried worker.

The backdrop is the Meiji era: Japan was opening up to the world amid trains and airplanes, while he kept going with his plow and his beets. The epic quality is obvious, but it should not be forgotten that it was not a choice: it was his life, probably with no alternative.

Reactions to the case range from respect to humor. Some point out that he "did pay into" social security; others joke that working that long left its mark on his face. There is also an ecological reading: he grew his food, ate it, and returned the nutrients to the soil for the next harvest. A circular economy avant la lettre.

Longevity feeds myths. It is said that in the Japanese countryside people live past 100, while in the city they barely reach 40. Exaggerations aside, the message is that agricultural work is associated with longer lives. Or at least that is what those waiting for a pension at 67 want to believe.

Should Izumi be taken as an ideal? It depends on the lens. Anyone praising his endurance should ask how much of it was voluntary. And anyone who sees him as a visionary of retiring at 105 should remember the old joke: even today you can find him at a bazaar in Soria. Almost better to retire early.