Tomiko Itooka died on December 29 at a nursing home in Ashiya, Hyogo Prefecture, central Japan.
Tomiko Itooka, a Japanese woman who was the oldest person in the world according to Guinness World Records, has died at the age of 116.
Yoshitsugu Nagata, an official in charge of elderly policies, said Itooka died on December 29 at a nursing home in Ashiya, Hyogo Prefecture, central Japan.
Itooka, who liked bananas and a Japanese yogurt-flavored drink called Calpis, was born on May 23, 1908. She became the oldest person last year after the death of 117-year-old Maria Branyas, according to the Gerontological Research Group.
When told she topped the World Supercentennial Rankings, she simply replied, “Thank you.”
Itooka celebrated her birthday last year with flowers, a cake and a card from the mayor.
“Ms. Itooka gave us courage and hope during her long life,” Ashiya’s 27-year-old mayor, Ryosuke Takashima, said in the statement.
“We thank him for it.”
Born in Osaka, Itooka was a volleyball player in high school and had long had a reputation for a bright spirit, Nagata said. She climbed the 3,067-meter (10,062-ft) Mount Ontake twice.
She married at age 20 and had two daughters and two sons, according to Guinness.
Itooka managed the office of her husband’s textile factory during World War II. She lived alone in Nara after her husband died in 1979.
She is survived by a son and a daughter and five grandchildren. A funeral service was held with family and friends, according to Nagata.
Itooka has not only experienced world wars, but also pandemics, as well as technological advances.
Women typically enjoy longer lives in Japan, but the country is facing a worsening demographic crisis as its growing elderly population leads to rising medical and welfare costs, with a shrinking workforce to pay for it.
According to the Gerontological Research Group, the world’s oldest person is now 116-year-old Brazilian nun Inah Canabarro Lucas, who was born 16 days after Itooka.
