Author: Yamaguchi Banri
TOKYO (AP) — Kane Tanaka, a Japanese woman widely recognized as the world’s oldest woman, has died at 119, just a few months shy of her goal of reaching 120.
Born on January 2, 1903, Tanaka loved the board game Othello, as well as chocolate and carbonated drinks. In 2019, she was certified by Guinness World Records as the oldest person at the age of 116. In the media, she said that she is still enjoying life and hopes to live to be 120 years old.
Tanaka died of old age at a hospital in his hometown of Fukuoka in southern Japan on April 19, city officials said. Tanaka, who lives in a nursing home, had only recently been in and out of the hospital, they said.
Fukuoka Prefecture Government Hattaro Shotaro said in a statement that he is shocked and saddened by her passing as he looks forward to celebrating Respect for the Aged Day in person later this year with chocolate and carbonated drinks, as he had to miss it last year. Occasion due to the epidemic.
“I can only see her in one photo where she’s holding a bouquet and making a ‘peace’ gesture (with her fingers), but it cheers me up,” Hattori said. “She gave people hope for a long and healthy life.”
With her passing, the world’s oldest person is now French nun André Lucille Langdon, at 118, according to the Gerontology Research Group. In Japan, the new record holder is Fusa Tatsumi, a 115-year-old woman from Osaka, Japan’s Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare said.
Japan’s population is rapidly aging and declining, with 86,510 centenarians, 90 percent of whom are women, according to the latest departmental figures.
