Kane Tanaka is believed to be the world’s oldest woman
(Picture: REUTERS)A Japanese woman believed to be the oldest person in the world has died, aged 119.
Kane Tanaka passed away in hospital last Tuesday in the city of Fukuoka, local officials said.
Ms Tanaka was confirmed by Guinness World Records in 2019 as the world’s oldest living person. She held the title for just over three years.
She was the second oldest woman to have ever lived after French woman Jeanne Celment, who died aged 122 years and 164 days in 1997. The title has now been passed to 118-year-old Lucile Randon, a French nun.
Local authorities on Monday confirmed to Japan’s state broadcaster NHK that Ms Tanaka died “of old age”.
Born on January 2, 1903, Ms Tanaka lived through an extraordinary century of change in her country and a series of wars, including conflicts against Russia and the US in the Second World War.
According to Guinness, she ran various businesses during her life including a rice cake store and a noodle shop.
She married Hideo Tanaka in 1922, with the couple going on to have four children and adopting a fifth.
Ms Tanaka had been set to use a wheelchair to take part in the torch relay at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021 – but was prevented from doing so by the pandemic.
Local governor Seitaro Hattori paid tribute to Ms Tanaka following the news of her death.
“I was looking forward to seeing Kane-san on this year's Respect for the Aged Day (a national holiday in September) and celebrating together with her favorite soda and chocolate,” he said in a statement.
“I am extremely saddened by the news.”
Japan has the world’s oldest population, according to World Bank data. Around 28 per cent of citizens are aged 65 or over.
As of last September, the country had 86,150 centenarians, and nine out of every 10 were women.
