Tomiko Itooka died on December 29 at a nursing home in Ashiya, Hyogo Prefecture, central Japan.
Tomiko Itooka, the Japanese woman who was the world's tallest woman according to Guinness World Records, has died at the age of 116.
Yoshitsugu Nagata, senior policy director, said It is wrong died on December 29 at a nursing home in Ashiya, Hyogo Prefecture, central Japan.
Itooka, who loved bananas and a Japanese drink flavored with yogurt called Calpis, was born on May 23, 1908. He became the world's oldest person last year after the death of a 117-year-old boy. Maria Branyasaccording to the Gerontology Research Group.
When told he was at the top of the World Supercentenarian Rankings List, he simply replied, “Thank you.”
Itooka celebrated her birthday last year with flowers, cake and a card from the mayor.
“Ms Itooka gave us courage and hope in her long life,” Ashiya's 27-year-old mayor Ryosuke Takashima said in a statement.
“We are grateful for this.”
Born in Osaka, Itooka was a volleyball player in high school and had a reputation for good spirits, Nagata said. He climbed the 3,067-meter (10,062-ft) Mount Ontake twice.
He married at the age of 20, and had two daughters and two sons, according to Guinness.
Itooka managed the office of her husband's textile factory during World War II. She lived alone in Nara after her husband died in 1979.
He is survived by one son and one daughter, and five grandchildren. The funeral was held with family and friends, according to Nagata.
Itooka was not limited to world wars, but epidemics, and technological advances.
Women generally live longer in Japan, but the country is facing a demographic crisis as an aging population leads to higher health and care costs, and fewer workers to cover them.
According to the Gerontology Research Group, the oldest person in the world is now a 116-year-old Brazilian nun, Inah Canabarro Lucas, who was born 16 days after Itooka.