Tomiko Itooka received the official “oldest person in the world” certificate from Guinness World Records in September
Japanese Tomiko Itooka, recognized as the oldest person in the world by Guinness World Records, died at the age of 116, the mayor of Ashiya announced today, the city where she lived in a nursing home.
The oldest person in the world, the Japanese woman Tomiko Itookadied at the age of 116.
Itooka, who had four children and five grandchildrendied on December 29 in the nursing home where he had lived since 2019, said the mayor of Ashiya, in Hyogo Prefecture, in central Japan. The funeral was held in the presence of family and friends.
Born on May 23, 1908 in the port city of Osaka, the Japanese woman was registered as the oldest person in the worldafter the Spanish woman died in August last year, aged 117.
“Mrs. Itooka gave us courage and hope throughout your long life“, highlighted the mayor of Ashiya, Ryosuke Takashima. “We thank him for that.”
Itooka was born six years before World War I and the year the Ford Model T was launched in the USA, into a family of three children. He was volleyball player In his youth, he experienced wars, pandemics and technological revolutions, and climbed Mount Ontake twice, 3067 meters high.
He married at age 20 and had two daughters and two sons, according to Guinness. During World War II, Itooka managed her husband’s textile factory and lived alone in Nara after his death in 1979. In his old age, he liked bananas and Calpis, a milk soft drink popular in Japan, says .
She was considered the oldest person in the world in September 2024 and received the official Guinness certificate on Respect for the Elderly Day, a Japanese public holiday celebrated annually to honor the country’s elderly citizens.
In September, Japan had more than 95,000 people aged 100 or more, 88% of whom were women. Of the country’s 124 million inhabitants, almost a third are aged 65 or over.
According to the Gerontology Research Group, the oldest person in the world is now the Brazilian nun Inah Canabarro Lucasaged 116, who was born 16 days after Itooka.
