Japanese woman, oldest person in the world at 116, dies

TOKYO — Tomiko Itooka, a Japanese woman who was the world’s oldest person according to Guinness World Records, has died, an Ashiya city official said Saturday. She was 116 years old.

Yoshitsugu Nagata, head of policies for the elderly, said Itooka died Dec. 29 at a nursing home in Ashiya, Hyogo Prefecture, central Japan.

Itooka, who loved bananas and a Japanese yogurt drink called Calpis, was born on May 23, 1908. She became the oldest person last year after the death of Maria Branyas, 117, according to the research group in gerontology.

When told that she topped the world ranking of supercentenarians, she simply replied: “Thank you.”

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

Born in Osaka, Itooka was a high school volleyball player and had long had a reputation as a quick thinker, Nagata said. She has climbed Mount Ontake twice, peaking at 3,067 meters (10,062 feet).

She married at age 20 and had two daughters and two sons, according to Guinness.

Itooka ran the office at her husband’s textile factory during World War II. She lived alone in Nara after her husband’s death in 1979.

She is survived by a son and a daughter as well as five grandchildren. A funeral service was held with family and friends, according to Nagata.

According to the Gerontology Research Group, the oldest person in the world is now Brazilian nun Inah Canabarro Lucas, 116, born 16 days after Itooka.