The world's oldest person according to Guinness World Recordsm, Tomiko Itooka, 116-year old Japanese woman, passed away on December 29, 2024 an Ashiya city official said on Saturday. Yoshitsugu Nagata, an official in charge of elderly policies, said Itooka died at a care home in Ashiya, Hyogo Prefecture, central Japan. She was born on May 23, 1908.
Itooka loved bananas and a yogurt-flavoured Japanese drink called Calpis. She became the oldest person last year following the death of 117-year-old Maria Branyas, according to the Gerontology Research Group.
Who is the world's oldest person after Itooka?
According to the Gerontology Research Group, the world's oldest person is now 116-year-old Brazilian nun Inah Canabarro Lucas, who was born 16 days after Itooka.
When Itooka was told she was at the top of the World Supercentenarian Rankings List, she simply replied, “Thank you.” Last year, when Itooka celebrated her birthday, she received flowers, a cake and a card from the mayor.
Who was Tomiko Itooka?
Born in Osaka, Itooka was a volleyball player in high school and long had a reputation for a sprightly spirit, Nagata said. She climbed the 3,067-metre (10,062-foot) Mount Ontake twice.
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, one daughter, and five grandchildren. A funeral service was held with family and friends, according to Nagata.
(With agency inputs)
