Tokyo [Japan], January 4 : Japanese woman Tomiko Itooka, born before the start of World War I, who was believed to be the oldest person in the world, passed away at a nursing home in Japan's Ashiya at the age of 116, The New York Times reported.
She is survived by one daughter, one son and an unknown number of her five grandchildren. In a statement issued on Saturday, Ashiya Mayor Ryosuke Takashima said Itooka passed away last Sunday, The New York Times reported.
He did not mention the cause of her death. However, local media reports said that she died peacefully due to complications related to old age.
Ryosuke Takashima said, "I offer my deepest condolences." He said, "Ms. Itooka gave us great courage and hope throughout her long life. I would like to express my gratitude once again."
Guinness World Records has expressed grief over her death. In a post shared on X, Guinness World Records said, "Sad news today that the world's oldest person Tomiko Itooka has died at the age of 116. Our thoughts are with her family."
https://x.com/GWR/status/1875502255098720654
In September last year, the Guinness World Records had declared Tomiko Itooka as the oldest living person following the death Maria Branyas Morera of Spain at the age of 117. She had made a public appearance in May 2024, when she celebrated her 116th birthday and city's mayor paid her a visit, according to Guinness World Records.
Itooka was born Tomiko Yano in Osaka on May 23, 1908. She was one of the three children in a family that ran a clothing store. At that time, Japan was a rising imperial power that had defeated Russia in war and was embarking on expansion into mainland Asia, The New York Times reported.
In the year of her birth, Japan signed an agreement with then-US President Theodore Roosevelt's Secretary of State that prevented conflict with the US in exchange for Washington recognizing Japan's annexation of the Korean Peninsula.
During her life, Itooka witnessed Japan emerge as an Asian colonial empire, fall in defeat in 1945 and rise again as an industrial giant and peaceful democracy. While growing up in pre-war Japan, she used to play volleyball in high school before getting married to the owner of a textile company, Kenji Itooka, The New York Times reported.
She and her husband had two daughters and two sons. During World War II, she lived in Japan to run the business while her husband travelled to Korea, then a Japanese colony, to oversee a factory there.
According to the Gerontology Research Group, which keeps a database of the world's oldest people, "she single-handedly managed a Japanese office and raised her children during this period."
In 1979, Itooka's husband passed away after 51 years of marriage. She then moved to Ashiya, where she was an avid hiker into her 80s. At the age of 100, Tomiko Itooka was able to climb the stone steps of her local Shinto shrine without using a can, the report said.
When local news media once asked her about the secret of her longevity, she reportedly credited eating bananas and drinking Calpis, a Japanese dairy drink.
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