World’s oldest person dies at 116 in Japan

TOKYO: The world’s oldest person, Japanese woman Tomiko Itooka, has died at the age of 116, the city of Ashiya where she lived announced on Saturday.

Itooka, who had four children and five grandchildren, died on December 29 at a nursing home where she resided since 2019, the southern city’s mayor said in a statement.

She was born on May 23, 1908 in the commercial hub of Osaka, near Ashiya -- four months before the Ford Model T automobile was launched in the United States. Itooka was recognised as the oldest person in the world after the August 2024 death of Spain’s Maria Branyas Morera at age 117.

“Ms Itooka gave us courage and hope through her long life,” Ashiya’s 27-year-old mayor Ryosuke Takashima said in the statement.

“We thank her for it.” Itooka, who was one of three siblings, lived through world wars and pandemics as well as technological breakthroughs.

As a student, she played volleyball. In her older age, Itooka enjoyed bananas and Calpis, a milky soft drink popular in Japan, according to the mayor’s statement.

Women typically enjoy longevity in Japan, but the country is facing a worsening demographic crisis as its expanding elderly population leads to soaring medical and welfare costs, with a shrinking labour force to pay for it. As of September, Japan counted more than 95,000 people who were 100 or older -- 88 percent of whom were women. Of the country’s 124 million people, nearly a third are 65 or older.

After Itooka’s death, the world’s oldest person is now 116-year-old Brazilian nun Inah Canabarro Lucas, who was born on June 8, 1908, according to the US Gerontological Research Group and LongeviQuest.