Kane Tanaka, the world’s oldest person, has died at the age of 119
Although she fell short of her objective of turning 120, Kane Tanaka has held the distinction of world’s oldest person for the past three years, which she credits to family, sleep, hope, and faith.
Officials in Japan revealed last week that Tanaka had died at the age of 119. An elderly Fukuoka nursing home resident, Tanaka, died on Tuesday at the hospital where he was being cared for.
Tanaka was born prematurely on January 2, 1903, the same year the Wright brothers made powered flight a reality, according to Guinness World Records. She was the family’s eighth child.
Hideo Tanaka, her husband at the age of 19, became her company partner and co-owner when she married him at the age of 19.
Tanaka was a drink and chocolate fanatic. When she was presented with a box of chocolates during a 2019 presenting ceremony to commemorate her status as the oldest person still living, she instantly tore into it.
As part of the torch relay leading up to the Olympic Games in Tokyo, Tanaka was selected to carry the Olympic torch, but her relatives felt it too hazardous given COVID-19.
Sarah Knauss of the United States was the world’s longest-living person until Tanaka overtook her earlier this month. The record for the greatest life span is still held by Jeanne Louise Calment, a Frenchwoman who passed away in 1997 at the age of 122 years and 164 days.
Lucile Randon, a 118-year-old French nun, has been named as the world’s oldest living person. He is COVID-19’s oldest known survivor.