World’s Oldest Person Dies At 116 

The world’s oldest person, Japanese woman Tomiko Itooka, has died aged 116, the city where she lived, Ashiya, announced on Saturday.

Itooka, who had four children and five grandchildren, died on December 29 at a nursing home where she resided since 2019, the southern city’s mayor said in a statement.

She was born on May 23, 1908, four months before the Ford Model T was introduced in the United States, in Osaka, close to Ashiya, the center of commerce.

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After the 117-year-old Maria Branyas Morera, a Spaniard, passed away in August of that year, Itooka was declared the oldest person in the world.

“Ms Itooka gave us courage and hope through her long life”, Ashiya’s 27-year-old mayor Ryosuke Takashima said in the statement.

“We thank her for it”.

Itooka, who was one of three siblings, lived through world wars and pandemics as well as technological breakthroughs.

As a student, she played volleyball.

In her older age, Itooka enjoyed bananas and Calpis, a milky soft drink popular in Japan, according to the mayor’s statement.

Women in Japan typically enjoy a long life, but the country is experiencing a worsening demographic crisis as its population ages, rising medical costs, and a shrinking labor force.

As of September, Japan counted more than 95, 000 people who were 100 or older — 88 per cent of whom were women.

Of the country’s 124 million people, nearly a third are 65 or older.

Source: Channels TV