A Japanese woman recognized as the oldest person in the world by the Guinness Book of Records has died at the age of 116.
Tomiko Itooka died at a nursing home in Ashiya City, Hyogo Prefecture, according to officials.
She became the world's oldest person after Spain's María Branias Morera died in August 2024. at the age of 117.
“Mrs. Itooka gave us courage and hope through her long life,” Ashiya Mayor Ryosuke Takashima, 27, said in a statement.
“We thank her for that.”
Mrs. Itooka was born in May 1908. – six years before World War I and the same year the Ford Model T car went on sale in the US.
She was confirmed as the oldest person in the world in September 2024. and received the official GWR certificate on Honoring the Elderly Day, which is a Japanese public holiday celebrated annually to honor the country's senior citizens.
Ms Itooka, who was one of three siblings, has lived through world wars and pandemics as well as technological breakthroughs.
As a student, she played volleyball and climbed the 3,067-meter (10,062 ft) Mount Ontake twice.
In her older years, she enjoyed bananas and Kalpis, a milky soft drink popular in Japan, according to the mayor's statement.
She married at 20 and had two daughters and two sons, according to Guinness.
During World War II, she managed the office of her husband's textile factory. She lived alone in Nara after her husband died in 1979.
She is survived by one son and one daughter and five grandchildren. A funeral service was held with family and friends, according to officials.
As of September, Japan counted more than 95,000 people aged 100 or older – 88% of whom were women.
Of the country's 124 million population, nearly a third are 65 or older.
Brazilian nun Inach Canabaro Lucas, who was born 16 days after Itooka and is 116 years old, is now believed to be the oldest person in the world.