Advertisement
Japan
AsiaEast Asia

World’s oldest person, Japan’s Kane Tanaka, dies at 119

  • Born on January 2, 1903, Kane Tanaka was certified by Guinness World Records as the oldest living person in 2019 when she was 116
  • She died of old age on April 19 at a hospital in Fukuoka, her hometown in southern Japan where she spent all her life, city officials said on Tuesday

Reading Time:2 minutes
Why you can trust SCMP
Kane Tanaka pictured in 2020 after her 117th birthday at a nursing home in Fukuoka, Japan. Photo: Kyodo via Reuters
Agencies

A Japanese woman recognised as the world’s oldest person, Kane Tanaka, has died at age 119, just months short of her goal of reaching 120.

Advertisement
Tanaka died of old age on April 19 at a hospital in Fukuoka, her hometown in southern Japan where she spent all her life, city officials said on Tuesday. Tanaka, who had lived at a nursing home, was in and out of hospital only recently, they said.

01:06

World’s oldest woman dies in Japan aged 119

World’s oldest woman dies in Japan aged 119
Fukuoka Governor Seitaro Hattori said in a statement that he was shocked and saddened by her loss, as he was looking forward to marking the Respect for the Aged Day with her later this year in person over chocolate and fizzy drinks. He had to miss the occasion last year because of the pandemic.

“I could only see her in a picture showing her with the bouquet and making a ‘peace’ sign [with her fingers], but that cheered me up,” Hattori said. “She gave the people hope for healthy long life.”

Tanaka was born on January 2, 1903, as the seventh in a family of eight children. She married at the age of 19 in 1922, having four children of her own and adopting a fifth.

Advertisement

When her husband and oldest son went away to the war with China that began in 1937, she kept the family going with her shop selling noodles. And after the war, the family ran a rice-cake business.

Advertisement