Kane Tanaka from Fukuoka, Japan – at 116 years and 66 days – has been confirmed as the oldest living person by Guinness World Record.
Born on 2nd January 1903, Kane was a premature baby and was the seventh child in her family. Remarkably, this was the year when the Wright brothers became the first ever to fly on a powered flight! She got married to Hideo Tanaka and they had five children, the last of whom was adopted. When her husband was called for military service during the war, Kane went on to manage the family business of making sticky rice and Udon noodles
On being awarded the certificate by Guinness at a presentation ceremony, Kane was also given her favourite box of chocolate. When asked how many chocolates she wanted to eat, she responded by saying ‘100.’ Isn’t that a typical example of being young at heart?
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Kane starts her day as early as 6 AM and has a keen interest at the board game Othello. She has been known to have had surgeries for cataract and for colorectal cancer but is living a peaceful life at a Japan rest home.
Japan is known to be one of those countries that have a very high life expectancy. The oldest man ever was also a Japanese – Jiroemon Kimura, who passed away at the age of 116 years, and 54 days.
Kane is now just six years short of beating the record for the oldest person ever. This distinction has been held by Jeanne Louise Calment from France, who lived for 122 years and 164 days.
