Tomiko Itooka, a Japanese lady born earlier than the beginning of World Struggle I and the sinking of the Titanic, who was believed to be the world’s oldest individual, has died in a nursing dwelling in Ashiya, Japan. She was 116.
In a press release launched on Saturday, Ashiya’s mayor mentioned Ms Itooka died final Sunday. He didn’t give a trigger, however native media reported that she died peacefully of problems associated to previous age.
“I provide my deepest condolences,” mentioned Mayor Ryosuke Takashima. “Mrs. Itooka gave us nice braveness and hope all through her lengthy life. I want to categorical my gratitude as soon as once more.”
Mrs. Itooka was has been named the oldest living person by the Guinness Book of World Records in September after the death of María Branias Morera from Spain aged 117.
Mrs. Itooka was born Tomiko Yano on Could 23, 1908. within the metropolis of Osaka, one among three kids in a household that runs a clothes retailer. On the time, her nation was a rising imperial energy that had simply defeated Tsarist Russia in battle and was embarking on an growth into mainland Asia.
Within the 12 months of her delivery, Japan signed an settlement with President Theodore Roosevelt’s Secretary of State that averted battle with america in alternate for Washington recognizing Japan’s annexation of the Korean Peninsula. Throughout her lifetime, she noticed her nation emerge as an Asian colonial empire, falling to fiery defeat in 1945. and rise once more as an industrial large and a peaceable democracy.
Raised in pre-war Japan, she performed volleyball in highschool earlier than marrying textile firm proprietor Kenji Itooka, with whom she has two daughters and two sons. Throughout World Struggle II, she remained in Japan to run the enterprise whereas her husband went to Korea, then a Japanese colony, to run a manufacturing facility there.
“She ran a Japanese workplace by herself and raised her kids throughout this era,” according to the Gerontology Research Groupwhich maintains a database of the world’s oldest folks.
In 1979 her husband dies after 51 years of marriage. Ms. Itooka then moved to Ashiya, a city outdoors Osaka, the place she remained an avid vacationer into her 80s. It’s mentioned that at 100 years previous, she nonetheless climbs the stone steps of the native Shinto shrine with no cane.
As soon as requested by the native media concerning the secret of her longevity, she claimed to eat bananas and drink Calpis, a Japanese milk drink. Mrs. Itooka is survived by one daughter, one son and an unknown variety of her 5 grandchildren.
Miharu Nishiyama and Hisako Ueno contributed reporting.
