Odd News

Japanese woman, 83, dubbed world's oldest club DJ

By Ben Hooper   |   Sept. 6, 2018 at 1:15 PM

Sept. 6 (UPI) -- An 83-year-old Japanese woman has been announced by Guinness World Records as the world's oldest professional club DJ.

Sumiko Iwamura, 83, aka DJ Sumirock, said she decided to attend a DJ school at the age of 77 and soon discovered she had a talent for it.

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Iwamura, who owns and works in the kitchen of a Chinese food restaurant, has a regular DJ slot at Decabar Z in Shinjuku, but her talents have led to guest gigs at exotic locations including Paris and New Zealand.

She told Guinness World Records that DJing isn't all that different from running her restaurant.

"You get feedback from your customers quickly in both cases," she said. "If you're playing tracks and they don't like it, they'll leave the floor and start drinking at the bar. If the tracks are danceable, then they'll stay on and dance their heart out."

"Restaurant customers are the same -- if it tastes good, then they look happy, and they'll tell me that they like it. For me, it's easy to work out how people are feeling in both cases," she said.