Hi Everyone: Would you like to live a healthy, happy and long life? I know one person who can give us pointers: Shigeaki Hinohara, M.D., a physician in Tokyo who is one of my heroes. Doctor Hinohara works 18 hours a day and has not had a day off in his life. Yes, that is true! He is 97 years and 4 months young so he punched in more work hours than maybe anyone else on the planet. He is the heart and soul of St. Luke's International Hospital in Tokyo. His lovely spirit is stamped all over this beautiful hospital, filled with great paintings and the kindest, most caring staff on earth. Stay healthy but if you ever get sick, this is the place to go!
Recently I spent four days following him around town and was flabbergasted by his power and curiosity for everyone and everything. He has a kind word for every person he meets and answers questions so willingly and wisely that I could not stop taking notes. He is absolutely wonderful! Check out his schedule book! It is filled till 2014! Inside I saw lectures scheduled for 2014 in Kumamoto, for example. He has no intention to slow down and I am preparing to run with him!

One afternoon I went with him to one of his "Inochi no Jigyou" (Life Lessons) lectures at an elementary school. Here he is conducting the children as they sing some lovely song. Hinohara san is a fabulous musician and composed a CD of his own songs!

The kids loved him: he worked the room like a kid himself, full of energy and playfulness, asking the children smart questions and answering theirs with funny anecdotes from his own childhood. He is a brilliant entertainer and everything he says is a life lesson.
The next day, after meetings from 8 am, at 1 PM , he did a 90 minute lecture at a hotel for 1000 business people. He always stands during his talks, walking on the stage from left to right while some of his important messages are projected on three giant screens around the room. It's so fun to listen to him! Here he is at his afternoon lecture:

Then next off to meetings until 6 PM when we were in the Palace Hotel for another 90 minute lecture, this time for 600 business people. Mr. Tatsuya Ueta, Head Coach of the Japan National Volleyball Team and Altesse Co.Ltd. President, Keiko Aoki san joined Hinohara sensei on stage. This time, Hinohara san was forced to sit down!

After a lively conversation among the three on stage, we had a buffet dinner and Hinohara sensei rushed home to work on some papers. He ran up the stairs, two steps at a time. Yes, another slow day in Doc Hinohara's life. Here we are stopping for a second to take a photo:


Hinohara sensei is an energy generator who produces a lot more power than he needs himself so there's plenty left for others. Take some! He is one of my great teachers and inspiration. I feel truly blessed to know him and I hope you will also learn something valuable from this great man. I introduced him in Words to Live by in the Japan Times . Check out Doctor Hinohara's advice and please, follow in his footsteps! I am right behind him. Thanks to him, elevators and escalators are history for me, I walk up every staircase two steps at a time, exactly like him.
To buy his book Living Long, Living Good, in English, please click here:
Living Long, Living Good on Amazon
I love Doctor Hinohara and highly recommend this book, full of thought treasures from an exceptional person!
xox JK