Tokyo:
The world’s oldest particular person, Japanese lady Tomiko Itooka, has died aged 116, town the place she lived, Ashiya, introduced on Saturday.
Itooka, who had 4 kids and 5 grandchildren, died on December 29 at a nursing residence the place she resided since 2019, the southern metropolis’s mayor mentioned in an announcement.
She was born on Might 23, 1908, within the industrial hub of Osaka, close to Ashiya — 4 months earlier than the Ford Mannequin T was launched in the USA.
Itooka was recognised because the oldest particular person on this planet after the August 2024 demise of Spain’s Maria Branyas Morera at age 117.
“Ms Itooka gave us braveness and hope by her lengthy life,” Ashiya’s 27-year-old mayor Ryosuke Takashima mentioned within the assertion.
“We thank her for it.”
Itooka, who was one among three siblings, lived by world wars and pandemics in addition to technological breakthroughs.
As a pupil, she performed volleyball.
In her older age, Itooka loved bananas and Calpis, a milky comfortable drink widespread in Japan, in response to the mayor’s assertion.
Girls usually get pleasure from longevity in Japan, however the nation is dealing with a worsening demographic disaster as its increasing aged inhabitants results in hovering medical and welfare prices, with a shrinking labour pressure to pay for it.
As of September, Japan counted greater than 95,000 individuals who have been 100 or older — 88 % of whom have been girls.
Of the nation’s 124 million individuals, almost a 3rd are 65 or older.
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