was a Japanese

supercentenarian A supercentenarian, sometimes hyphenated as super-centenarian, is a person who is 110 or older. This age is achieved by about one in 1,000 centenarians. Supercentenarians typically live a life free of significant age-related diseases until short ...

who, until her death at the age of , was the world's oldest verified living person, following the death of Chiyo Miyako on 22 July 2018. She is the oldest verified

Japanese person are an East Asian ethnic group native to the Japanese archipelago. Japanese people constitute 97.4% of the population of the country of Japan. Worldwide, approximately 125 million people are of Japanese descent, making them one of the larges ...

and the second-oldest verified person ever, after

Jeanne Calment Jeanne Louise Calment (; 21 February 1875 – 4 August 1997) was a French supercentenarian. With a documented lifespan of 122 years and 164 days, she was the oldest people, oldest person in history whose age has been verified. Her longevity at ...

Personal life

Tanaka was born as on 2 January 1903 in the village of Wajiro (now part of Higashi-ku,

Fukuoka is the List of Japanese cities by population, sixth-largest city in Japan and the capital city of Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan. The city is built along the shores of Hakata Bay, and has been a center of international commerce since ancient times. ...

), on the southern island of

Kyushu is the third-largest island of Japan's Japanese archipelago, four main islands and the most southerly of the four largest islands (i.e. excluding Okinawa Island, Okinawa and the other Ryukyu Islands, Ryukyu (''Nansei'') Ryukyu Islands, Islands ...

, the third daughter and seventh child of Kumayoshi and Kuma Ota. Kane and her family said she was actually born on 2 December 1902 and that her parents delayed the process of filing the report for a week because they were not sure if she would survive as she was born prematurely. Kane's early childhood was during the last years of the

Meiji period The was an era of Japanese history that extended from October 23, 1868, to July 30, 1912. The Meiji era was the first half of the Empire of Japan, when the Japanese people moved from being an isolated feudal society at risk of colonizatio ...

, which ended in 1912 when she was nine. Kane married her cousin Hideo Tanaka in 1922, with whom she had two sons and two daughters. The couple also adopted their niece, the second daughter of Hideo's sister. Kane's eldest daughter died shortly after birth and her second daughter died at the age of one in 1947, while her adoptive daughter died in 1945 at the age of 23 of an unspecified illness. The couple worked in a store selling shiruko and

udon Udon ( or ) is a thick noodle made from wheat flour, used in Japanese cuisine. There are a variety of ways it is prepared and served. Its simplest form is in a soup as with a mild broth called made from dashi, soy sauce, and mirin. It is usual ...

noodles. Kane's husband was later drafted into the military, where he served from 1937 to 1939; one of her sons was captured towards the end of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

as a military POW and was held captive in

Siberia Siberia ( ; , ) is an extensive geographical region comprising all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has formed a part of the sovereign territory of Russia and its predecessor states ...

before being released and returning home in 1947. After World War II, the couple continued working in the store, with Kane converting to Christianity under the ministry of pastors stationed by the

United States military The United States Armed Forces are the Military, military forces of the United States. U.S. United States Code, federal law names six armed forces: the United States Army, Army, United States Marine Corps, Marine Corps, United States Navy, Na ...

. Retiring from working at their store at 63, Kane traveled to the United States in the 1970s to visit her relatives in

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

and

Colorado Colorado is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States. It is one of the Mountain states, sharing the Four Corners region with Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. It is also bordered by Wyoming to the north, Nebraska to the northeast, Kansas ...

. Her husband died in 1993 at the age of 90 after 71 years of marriage. Kane lived in a

nursing home A nursing home is a facility for the residential care of older people, senior citizens, or disabled people. Nursing homes may also be referred to as care homes, skilled nursing facilities (SNF), or long-term care facilities. Often, these terms ...

in Higashi-ku, Fukuoka from September 2018, and was reportedly still in good health on her 118th birthday. Tanaka was supposed to hold the

Olympic torch The Olympic flame is a Olympic symbols, symbol used in the Olympic movement. It is also a symbol of continuity between ancient and modern games. The Olympic flame is lit at Olympia, Greece, several months before the Olympic Games. This ceremony s ...

at the

2020 Summer Olympics The officially the and officially branded as were an international multi-sport event that was held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some of the preliminary sporting events beginning on 21 July 2021. Tokyo ...

, but she withdrew from it due to concerns regarding an increase in COVID-19 cases in Japan. She occasionally played the board game

Othello ''The Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice'', often shortened to ''Othello'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare around 1603. Set in Venice and Cyprus, the play depicts the Moorish military commander Othello as he is manipulat ...

, and took short walks in the nursing home's hallways. Her hobbies included

calligraphy Calligraphy () is a visual art related to writing. It is the design and execution of lettering with a pen, ink brush, or other writing instruments. Contemporary calligraphic practice can be defined as "the art of giving form to signs in an e ...

and solving arithmetic problems. She had five grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren. Tanaka died in a hospital in Fukuoka on 19 April 2022, nine days after being verified as the second-oldest person to have lived. Her death was announced on 25 April 2022. No cause of death was given, but her grandson said she had been feeling ill since late 2021, according to the Japanese Health Ministry.

Health and longevity

Tanaka had several major illnesses and was infected with

paratyphoid fever Paratyphoid fever, also known simply as paratyphoid, is a bacterial infection caused by one of three types of '' Salmonella enterica''. Symptoms usually begin 6–30 days after exposure and are the same as those of typhoid fever. Often, a gradu ...

with her adopted daughter at the age of 35. She underwent

pancreatic cancer Pancreatic cancer arises when cell (biology), cells in the pancreas, a glandular organ behind the stomach, begin to multiply out of control and form a Neoplasm, mass. These cancerous cells have the malignant, ability to invade other parts of ...

surgery at the age of 45. In 2006, Tanaka was diagnosed with

colorectal cancer Colorectal cancer (CRC), also known as bowel cancer, colon cancer, or rectal cancer, is the development of cancer from the Colon (anatomy), colon or rectum (parts of the large intestine). Signs and symptoms may include Lower gastrointestinal ...

and underwent surgery when she was 103 years old. Her life and longevity were noted by her second son and his wife four years later when they published a book called ''In Good and Bad Times, 107 Years Old''. At the age of 114, she was interviewed by KBC in September 2017. On 9 March 2019, Tanaka was officially presented with the "World's Oldest Living Person" and "World's Oldest Living Woman" titles by ''

Guinness World Records ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a British reference book published annually, list ...

'', verifying her longevity claim. On 19 September 2020, she broke the record of longest-lived Japanese person, as well as the third-oldest person in the world, after surpassing Nabi Tajima's age of 117 years, 260 days. On 8 April 2022, she surpassed the lifespan of Sarah Knauss to become the second-oldest verified person. Tanaka had said that she wanted to live to the age of 120, crediting her faith in God, family, sleep, hope, eating good food and practicing

mathematics Mathematics is a field of study that discovers and organizes methods, Mathematical theory, theories and theorems that are developed and Mathematical proof, proved for the needs of empirical sciences and mathematics itself. There are many ar ...

for her longevity. Her longevity, along with that of

, has contributed to the debate that the maximum lifespan for humans could be 115–125 years. After Tanaka's death, Frenchwoman Lucile Randon became the world's oldest validated living person.

References

External links

* (the account by her great-granddaughter)
''Telegraph Herald'' News in brief

''USA Today'' What countries have the longest life expectancies?

''San Francisco Chronicle'' News of the day from around the globe, July 27

''Las Vegas Review-Journal'' World's oldest person dies at 117, now 115-year-old is oldest
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tanaka, Kane 1903 births 2022 deaths 20th-century Japanese women 21st-century Japanese women Converts to Baptist Christianity Japanese Baptists Japanese supercentenarians People from Fukuoka People of the Meiji era Women supercentenarians

Personal life

Health and longevity

See also

References

External links