World's oldest person, Tomiko Itooka of Japan, dies at 116

A Japanese woman, Tomiko Itooka, believed to be the oldest person in the world, died last Sunday at the age of 116 at a nursing home in Ashiya, Japan.

In a statement released on Saturday, the mayor of Ashiya said Ms. Itooka died peacefully of complications related to old age, according to The New York Times. 

“I offer my deepest condolences,” said the mayor, Ryosuke Takashima. “Ms. Itooka gave us great courage and hope throughout her long life. I would like to express my gratitude once again.”

Ms. Itooka was declared the oldest living person by Guinness World Records in September after the death of a woman in Spain at age 117.

Ms. Itooka was born on May 23, 1908, in the city of Osaka. That year, Japan signed an agreement with President Theodore Roosevelt’s secretary of state recognizing Japan’s annexation of the Korean Peninsula, averting a conflict, according to The Times. 

She raised four children and ran a family textile factory during World War II.

Her husband died in 1979 after 51 years of marriage. Ms. Itooka then moved to Ashiya, a city near Osaka, where she remained an avid hiker into her 80s. She was said to still be able to ascend the stone steps of her local Shinto shrine without a cane at 100 years old.  

When asked for the secret of her longevity by a member of the local media, she reportedly credited eating bananas and drinking Calpis, a Japanese dairy drink. Ms. Itooka is survived by one daughter, one son and an unknown number of her five grandchildren.