TOKYO — Hideko Arima, known as Japan's oldest bar 'mama,' has died of heart failure at the age of 101 after running a tiny watering hole for half a century in Tokyo's glitzy Ginza district.
She held court from the same stool at the end of the counter at the Gilbey A, for 52 years until six days ago when, braving a sudden illness, she spent what would be her last day there.
'She was taken ill at her apartment last Friday but dared to come, saying she could rather cheer herself up at the bar,' said Gilbey A bartender Fukuichi Nakagawa, 53.
'She was pale but her face turned rosy when the patrons strolled in. She kept talking as usual but she did not order her favorite beer. She just had a few glasses of juice,' Nakagawa said Thursday.
You can't really say that passing away like this is bad news.
