The oldest living person in the world has died in Japan at 119 years old.
Kane Tanaka was born on January 2, 1903, according to Guinness World Records.
She has endured many things in her long life, such as surviving cancer twice, making it through the 1918 Spanish flu, and the COVID pandemic, as well as two world wars, as CNN pointed out.
Kane Tanaka also planned on participating in the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, for the torch relay, but ultimately was unable to participate due to precautions over COVID-19.
In recent years, Kane Tanaka was living in a nursing home and that is when her great-granddaughter, Junko Tanaka created a Twitter account that detailed her daily activities, including playing board games.
Her family also posted photos of her having treats, such as soda and cake.
【大快挙】119歳到達🎉
— 田中カ子 (@tanakakane0102) January 1, 2022
無事に119歳を迎えることができました！
サラ・ナウスさん以来22年ぶりの119歳到達です🎊
最新のカ子さんの写真です📸
12月に親戚が会いに行った時のものです。
たくさんの方々に支えられてここまでくることが出来ました🙌
これからも楽しく明るく元気に過ごしてほしいです😊 pic.twitter.com/K38jXDTIQ3
“I might be biased because I’m related to her but I think it’s kind of amazing — I wanted to share that with the world and for people to feel inspired and to feel her joy,” Junko Tanaka previously told CNN.
In 2019, the average life expectancy for women in Japan is around 87.5 years and for men over 81.4 years, according to Statista Research Department.
“Japan had the longest average life expectancy, primarily due to remarkably low mortality rates from ischemic heart disease and cancer (particularly breast and prostate),” according to an article by the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition published in July 2020.
Proverbs 16:31 speaks about the blessing of getting older, “Gray hair is a crown of splendor; it is attained in the way of righteousness.”
In a tweet posted by Kane Tanaka’s family before her passing, they said she was recently “hospitalized and discharged repeatedly,” per Guinness World Records.
In a statement written on their website, Guinness World Records sent their “deepest condolences to Kane’s family.”
