Her achievement is nothing special, she says. But the thing that has kept Chieko Akiyama going throughout her unprecedented career is the human energy radiating from the people she meets.
"Akiyama Chieko no Danwa Shitsu" ("Chieko Akiyama's Lounge"), the monologue radio program hosted for the last 45 years by the 85-year-old critic, will end with the Oct. 4 show.
She will have spoken 12,512 times on the world's longest-running radio program, which has aired on weekdays since 1957.