Japanese woman Tomiko Itsuka, who was the world’s oldest person according to Guinness World Records, has died, an Ashiya city official said Saturday. She was 116 years old.
Yoshitsugu Nagata, the official in charge of elder politics, said Iuka died in December. 29 In a care home in Ashiya, Hyogo Prefecture, central Japan.
Itsuka, who likes bananas and a yogurt-flavored Japanese drink called Calpis, was born on May 23, 1908. She became the oldest person alive after 117-year-old Maria Branyas died last year, according to the Gerontology Research Group.
When told that he topped the World Supercentenarian Ranking list, he simply replied, “Thank you.”
When Itsuka celebrated her birthday last year, she received flowers, a cake, and a card from the mayor.
Born in Osaka, Itsuka was a volleyball player in high school and long had a reputation as a flamboyant player, Nagata said. She climbed the 3,067-metre (10,062 ft) high Mount Ontake twice.
According to Guinness, he married at age 20 and has two daughters and two sons.
Itsuka took over the office of her husband’s textile factory during World War II. After her husband’s death in 1979, she lived alone in Nara.
He is survived by a son, a daughter and five grandchildren. According to Nagata, a funeral service was held with family and friends present.
According to the Gerontology Research Group, the world’s oldest person is now 116-year-old Brazilian nun Inah Canabaro Lucas, who was born 16 days after Ituca.
