Japanese DJ, 82, sends China into a spin

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Most people at 82 years old are content to go to bed early after a day tending the garden. Not Sumiko Iwamuro, for whom life has just begun at that age.

The Japanese granny runs a dumpling restaurant with her family by day, then by night she climbs onto the stage of a nightclub in Tokyo and becomes “DJ Sumirock”.

The chic octogenarian has become an online sensation in China this week thanks to a video of her work posted by production company Yitiao.

Iwamuro and her husband. /Screenshot via Yitiao video

Iwamuro met her husband at 22, and dedicated herself to family life from then until he passed away.

Instead of dreading single life and old age, Iwamuro deemed it a new start. She applied for a driving license, took English lessons and went to college, all while continuing to run the restaurant she inherited from her father.

Screenshot via Yitiao video

Five years ago, in her late 70s, the active senior first tried her hand at the turntables, spending a year training at a local music school. She then got her DJ job, performing at a club in Tokyo’s Shinjuku district one or two nights a month.

But for Iwamuro, the day of each show is much like any other; she just finishes at the restaurant slightly earlier and puts on simple make-up for the late night.

Generally, the one-hour performance at the club earns Iwamuro applause from crowds mostly 60 years younger than she is. Sometimes, however, she wonders, “Does everyone praise me because of my age, or simply because my music is good?”

Screenshot via Yitiao video

Iwamuro has set two goals for her future life – one is to pick up the cello again, and the other is to learn how to ride horse.

"If I die, I would like to die at the worktop in my restaurant, or on the stage as a DJ. I hate doing nothing all day, just lying in the hospital and waiting to die," she told Yitiao.

Screenshot via Yitiao video

Many Chinese have expressed admiration for her on social media.

“A healthy-minded soul does not stick to the body,” @woxiangchiyouzi_y said.

“She is a model for my elderly life,” according to @Nsnewme.

Japan is known for its aging demographic, with people aged 65 and above making up 26.6 percent of the population in 2015.

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