Japanese Woman Kane Tanaka, World’s Oldest Person, Dies Aged 119

Kane Tanaka died of old age in a hospital in western Japan's Fukuoka city, reports said.

KaneTanaka, who was born on January 2, 1903, in Japan's Fukuoka region, died on April 19, 2022 ( Image Source :Wikimedia Commons/AFP )

New Delhi: Kane Tanaka, a woman in Japan who had been certified as the oldest living person in the world, has died. She was 119 years old.

Quoting local officials, a report on independent.co.uk said she died of old age in a hospital in western Japan's Fukuoka city last week.

Kane Tanaka was born on January 2, 1903, in Fukuoka region.

According to an AFP report, she was in relatively good health until recently, and spent her time playing board games, solving maths problems, and enjoying soda and chocolate at the nursing home where she lived.

When she was young, Tanaka ran various businesses, including a rice cake store and a noodle shop, the report said. She married Hideo Tanaka in 1922. They couple had five children, one of them an adopted one.

The Guinness World Records certified Tanaka as the oldest person alive in 2019. Asked what was her happiest moment in life, she had then answered: "Now."

Tanaka wanted to take part in the 2021 Tokyo Olympics torch relay, in a wheelchair, but the pandemic did not let her do that, the AFP report said.

She woke up 6 am every day, and practised calligraphy during the day among doing other things, Guinness had said in 2019.

Taking to Twitter, Guinness expressed sorrow over Tanaka's death.

Confirming the news of her death, it tweeted that she was also the second oldest person ever recorded. 

We're sad to report that Kane Tanaka has passed away at the age of 119.

Kane was the oldest living person in the world.

— Guinness World Records (@GWR) April 25, 2022

Quoting local governor Seitaro Hattori, the AFP report said Tanaka passed away on April 19.

"I was looking forward to seeing Kane-san on this year's Respect for the Aged Day (a national holiday in September) and celebrating together with her favorite soda and chocolate," he said in a statement issued on Monday.

According to World Bank data, Japan has the world's most elderly population, with around 28 per cent people aged 65 or over.

The oldest-ever living person recognised by Guinness was Jeanne Louise Calment of France, who died in 1997 aged 122 years and 164 days.