Thank you for everything!　What “Honjamaka” Hidehiko Ishizuka has changed after turning 60

Various changes have taken place since I crossed 60

Hello, everyone. My name is Hidehiko Ishizuka, and all my classmates I meet at class reunions have come to resemble the Seven Lucky Gods.

This time, I would like to write about what has changed since I passed the 60th birthday.

In February of this year, I turned 64 years old. I am a simpleton, and I do not feel that I have passed the 60th birthday. When I look at the photos displayed in the restaurants I have visited in the past, my appearance has hardly changed from 20 years ago (laugh).

I am embarrassed to say that I even still wear the overalls I wore 20 years ago. The only difference is whether or not he writes “maiu” on his autograph, or in other words, whether or not he is the same person as in “Genso! Debuya” (TV Tokyo) before or after its broadcast.

Even I have changed since I passed the 60th birthday. One of them is “gray hair. This is a problem not only for me but for everyone. Depending on the person, it may look appropriate for one’s age, or rather, the gray hair may give one a sense of dignity. But in my case, it is special.

Imagine this. What would you think if you saw a gray-haired person frolicking in the streets? What would you think if you saw a gray-haired person smiling with whipped cream around his mouth?

So I started dying my hair a lighter color and adding brighter mesh. My eyebrows, beard, and nose hair have also started to be intermingled with white, so I have been removing or shaving them to cope.

Another change in my appearance is my muscles. I have been doing muscle training with the same menu since before I turned 60, but I feel that it is getting harder to gain muscle. Well, it is enough if I have muscles to hold a bowl of tea and chopsticks.

Next is my food preference. I still love meat and white rice, but there is one change. I now appreciate “lean” beef. I used to choose only marbled beef, but when I went to a yakiniku restaurant with my family and was given a piece of lean beef that my daughter ordered, I was shocked at how good it was. Akami was the key to the door to heaven, and the door that had been closed for 60 years finally opened. Thank you for the 60th birthday.

A change in the way I think.

Next is a change in my mentality: In my 40’s and 50’s, I worked hard at my job. However, as I approached my 60th birthday, I began to realize the importance of life and health.

The 60th birthday is the age at which one’s relatives or acquaintances become ill or are hospitalized. When I lost my mother, it made me think about life. When I walk down the street and see elderly people, I see the same image of my mother as I did before she died, and I pray from the bottom of my heart that she will live a long life. When I see an ambulance, I pray, “Please save her. Two of my classmates from the judo club in high school have also passed away.

Through these experiences, I have changed my mindset from “I want to work a lot and live a luxurious life” to “I want to take care of my health and live a happy life.

I didn’t think about taking care of my health, which is a matter of course, until I passed the age of 60. At the same time, I started to make time to see my loved ones and contribute to the local community that has taken care of me.

The last change is that I have come to appreciate the beauty of nature, such as mountains, rivers, flowers, and the moon. I have traveled extensively on location throughout Japan, but I used to sleep while traveling and complain that the scenery was always the same. Now I find myself growing flowers in a planter.

It makes me want to be thankful for everything. It is wonderful to be back!

From the May 15 and 22, 2026 issue of “FRIDAY