The oldest person in the world, Japanese Tomiko Itooka, has died at the age of 116, the city of Ashiya, in southern Japan, where she lived, announced on Saturday.
Tomiko Itooka, who had four children and five grandchildren, died on December 29 in the elderly residence where she had resided since 2019, Ashiya Mayor Ryosuke Takashima said in a statement.
Born on May 23, 1908 in Osaka, not far from the city of Ashiya, she was identified as the oldest of humanity after the death last August of the Spaniard Maria Branyas Morera at 117 years old.
>> Read about it: The dean of humanity María Branyas died at the age of 117
“Ms. Itooka gave us courage and hope throughout her long life. We thank her for that,” commented Ryosuke Takashima.
Bananas and Calpis
Coming from a family of three children, a volleyball player in her youth, Tomiko Itooka has experienced wars, pandemics and technological revolutions.
During her last years, the world’s oldest loved bananas and Calpis, a drink made from lactic ferments very popular in Japan, according to a press release from Ashiya town hall.
An aging population
Japan is currently experiencing a demographic crisis, with a growing elderly population and a shrinking working population, financing increased medical and social costs.
In September, Japan had more than 95,000 centenarians, 88% of whom were women. Nearly a third of the country’s 124 million residents are 65 and older.
>> Read also: For the first time, more than one in 10 Japanese people are over 80
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