A Japanese woman, recognised as the world’s oldest person by Guinness World Records, has died aged 116.
Tomiko Itooka died in a nursing home in the city of Ashiya, Hyogo Prefecture, according to officials.
She became the oldest person in the world after Spain’s Maria Branyas Morera passed away in August 2024 at age 117.
“Ms Itooka gave us courage and hope through her long life,” Ashiya’s 27-year-old mayor Ryosuke Takashima said in a statement.
“We thank her for it.”
Ms. Itooka was born in May 1908, the year the Ford Model T automobile was introduced in the United States and six years prior to the First World War.
On Respect for the Aged Day, a Japanese public holiday observed yearly to honor the nation’s senior citizens, she received the official GWR certificate and was confirmed as the oldest person in the world in September 2024.
Ms. Itooka, one of three siblings, experienced pandemics, world wars, and technological advancements.
She played volleyball and made two ascents of the 3,067-meter (10,062-foot) Mount Ontake while she was a student.
According to the mayor’s statement, she liked bananas and Calpis, a milky soft drink that is popular in Japan, as she grew older.
According to Guinness, she married at the age of 20 and had two daughters and two sons.
She oversaw her husband’s textile factory’s office during World War Two. After her husband passed away in 1979, she lived alone in Nara.
Five grandchildren and one son and one daughter survive her. Officials said a funeral service was held with friends and family.
Over 95,000 people in Japan were 100 years of age or older as of September, with women making up 88% of this group.
Nearly one-third of the 124 million people living in the nation are 65 years of age or older.
Inah Canabarro Lucas, a Brazilian nun, is currently thought to be the oldest person in the world at the age of 116. She was born 16 days after Itooka.
