Following the death of 117-year-old Maria Branyas Morera from Spain, 116-year-old Tomiko Itooka from Ashiya, Japan, has become the oldest living person in the world, Guinness World Records officials announced.
When on Wednesday, August 21, the staff of the nursing home where she is staying informed Tomiko Itooka that she had become the oldest living person in the world, she politely thanked for the news and celebrated the unusual title with her favorite sweet and sour carbonated milk drink – write Japanese media.
Tomiko Itooka is the oldest living person in the world
Tomiko Itooka was born on May 23, 1908 in Osaka. The IV Summer Olympics were taking place in distant London. Just nine days earlier, USA the Wright brothers conducted the first two flights of their airplane with a passenger on board, and Warsaw residents slowly became accustomed to the first tram running on electricity without a horse.
Tomiko was the oldest of three siblings. According to the Japanese daily “The Asahi Shimbun”, she played volleyball during her school days. She remained active for a very long time – Itooka liked hiking, and was especially keen to visit shrines and temples. “The Independent” also writes about the 116-year-old's passion for hiking. According to the newspaper, Itooka began to go to the mountains especially often after her husband died in 1979, when she was living in Nara Prefecture. At the age of 70, she was supposed to have climbed the 3,067-meter Mount Ontake twice. As emphasized, she did it in sneakers instead of hiking boots. At the age of over 80, she twice took part in a pilgrimage to 33 temples in the Kansai region, and at the age of 100, she climbed the long stone steps of the Ashiya Temple without a cane.
Tomiko Itooka is 116 years old. She has become the oldest living person in the worldPAP / EPA / ASHIYA CITY / JIJI PRESS
According to The Asahi Shimbun, citing the Gerontology Research Group, all 10 of the oldest people in the world today are women. Four of them live in JapanThe second oldest is Inah Canabarro Lucas from Brazilwho was born 15 days after Tomiko Itooka.
The longest-living person in the world was Frenchwoman Jeanne Calment. She died in 1997 at the age of 122 years and 164 days.
The Asahi Shimbun, The Independent, tvn24.pl
Main image source: PAP / EPA / ASHIYA CITY / JIJI PRESS