A Japanese woman, recognized as the world’s oldest person by Guinness World Records, has died at the age of 116.
Tomiko Itooka died at a nursing home in Ashiya City, Hyogo Prefecture, according to authorities.
She became the world’s oldest person after the death of Spaniard Maria Branyas Morera in August 2024 at the age of 117.
“Ms. Itooka gave us courage and hope throughout her long life,” Ashiya Mayor Ryosuke Takashima, 27, said in a statement.
“We thank her for that.”
Ms. Itooka was born in May 1908, six years before World War I and the same year that the Ford Model T car was launched in the United States.
She was recognized as the world’s oldest person in September 2024 and received the official GWR certificate on Respect for the Elderly Day, a Japanese public holiday celebrated annually to honor the country’s elderly citizens .
Ms Itooka, who was one of three siblings, lived through world wars and pandemics as well as technological advances.
As a student, she played volleyball and twice climbed Mount Ontake, peaking at 3,067 meters (10,062 ft).
In her old age, she enjoyed bananas and Calpis, a carbonated milk drink popular in Japan, according to the mayor’s statement.
She married at age 20 and had two daughters and two sons, according to Guinness.
During World War II, she managed the office at her husband’s textile factory. She lived alone in Nara after her husband’s death in 1979.
She is survived by a son and a daughter as well as five grandchildren. A funeral service was held with family and friends, according to authorities.
As of September, Japan had more than 95,000 people aged 100 or older, 88% of whom were women.
Of the country’s 124 million inhabitants, nearly a third are 65 or older.
Brazilian nun Inah Canabarro Lucas, born 16 days after Itooka and aged 116, is today considered the oldest person in the world.
