The world’s oldest person, Tomiko Itooka, a Japanese woman, has passed away at the age of 116, as confirmed by a city official from Ashiya. The news was shared on Saturday.
Yoshitsugu Nagata, an official in charge of elderly policies, said Itooka died Dec. 29 at a care home in Ashiya, Hyogo Prefecture, central Japan.
Tomiko Itooka, who had a fondness for bananas and the yogurt-flavored Japanese drink Calpis, was born on May 23, 1908. She achieved the title of the oldest person in the world last year following the passing of Maria Branyas, who was 117 years old, as reported by the Gerontology Research Group.
Tomiko Itooka celebrates her 116th birthday at the nursing home where she lives in Ashiya, Japan, May 23, 2024. (Ashiya City via AP)
She married at 20, and had two daughters and two sons, according to Guinness.
Itooka managed the office of her husband’s textile factory during World War II. She lived alone in Nara after her husband died in 1979.
She is survived by one son and one daughter and five grandchildren. A funeral service was held with family and friends, according to Nagata.
Now, the Gerontology Research Group states that the current oldest living person is Brazilian nun Inah Canabarro Lucas, aged 116, who was born just 16 days after Tomiko Itooka.
