The Japanese woman, whom the Guinness Book of Records considers the oldest person in the world, died at the age of 116.
Tomiko Itooka died at a nursing home in Ashiya City, Hyogo Prefecture, according to officials.
She became the oldest person in the world after the Spanish Maria Branyas Morera passed away in August 2024 at the age of 117.
“Mrs. Itooka gave us courage and hope with her long life,” Ashiya Mayor Ryosuke Takashima, 27, said in a statement.
– We thank her for that.
Mrs Itooka was born in May 1908 – six years before World War I and the same year the Ford Model T car was launched in the US.
She was confirmed as the world’s oldest person in September 2024 and was presented with an official GWR certificate on Elderly Respect Day, a Japanese national holiday celebrated annually to honor the country’s senior citizens.
Mrs. Itooka, who was one of three siblings, lived through world wars and pandemics, as well as technological breakthroughs.
As a student, she played volleyball and climbed the 3,067-meter (10,062-foot) Mount Ontake twice.
In her old age, she enjoyed bananas and Calpis, a milky soft drink popular in Japan, according to the mayor’s statement.
She married at the age of 20 and had two daughters and two sons, according to Guinness.
During World War II, she managed the office of her husband’s textile factory. She lived alone in Nara after her husband died in 1979.
She is survived by a son and one daughter and five grandchildren. The funeral service was held with family and friends, according to officials.
In September, Japan counted more than 95,000 people who were 100 or older – 88% of whom were women.
Of the country’s 124 million people, nearly a third are 65 or older.
Brazilian nun Inah Canabarro Lucas, born 16 days after Itooka and 116 years old, is believed to be the oldest person in the world.
