The oldest person in the world died in Japan at the age of 116 | News for women

Tomiko Itooka died on December 29 at a nursing home in Ashiya, Hyogo Prefecture, central Japan.

Tomiko Itooka, the Japanese woman who was the oldest person in the world according to Guinness World Records, has died at the age of 116.

Yoshitsugu Nagata, an official in charge of policies for the elderly, said Itooka died on December 29 at a nursing home in Ashiya, Hyogo Prefecture, central Japan.

Itooka, who loves bananas and a Japanese yogurt-flavored drink called Calpis, was born on May 23, 1908. She became the oldest person last year after the death of a 117-year-old Maria Braniasaccording to the Gerontology Research Group.

When told she topped the World Ranking of Supercentenarians, she simply replied, “Thank you.”

Itooka celebrated her birthday last year with flowers, a cake and a card from the mayor.

“Ms. Itooka gave us courage and hope through her long life,” Ashiya Mayor Ryosuke Takashima, 27, said in the statement.

“We thank her for that.”

Born in Osaka, Itooka was a volleyball player in high school and has long had a reputation for being cheerful, Nagata said. She climbed the 3,067-meter (10,062 ft) 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 and one daughter and five grandchildren. A funeral service was held with family and friends, according to Nagata.

Itooka has experienced not only world wars, but also pandemics as well as technological breakthroughs.

Women generally enjoy longevity in Japan, but the country faces a worsening demographic crisis as a growing elderly population leads to skyrocketing medical and social care costs, with a shrinking workforce to pay for it.

According to the Gerontology Research Group, the oldest person in the world is now 116-year-old Brazilian nun Inach Canabaro Lucas, who was born 16 days after Itooka.