Kane Tanaka, the world’s oldest person, celebrated her 119th birthday at a nursing facility in Fukuoka, Japan.
Tanaka, the world’s oldest person celebrated her birthday at the nursing home with staff and relatives, according to a TV video from local broadcaster TVQ Kyushu Broadcasting Co.
Tanaka’s 62-year-old grandson, Eiji, expressed his wish for her that she stays “healthy and have fun every day as she grows older.”
Japan has one of the world’s longest life expectancies. Several people in Japan are popular among the world’s oldest humans.
Jiroemon Kimura, the world’s longest-living man, died in June 2013 just after his 116th birthday.
Tanaka’s record age reflects Japan’s rapidly aging population. When it combines with the country’s declining birthrate, it generates concerns about labor shortages and future economic development prospects.
According to Japan’s welfare ministry, the number of newborns born in the country decreased by 5.9% last year. It is fewer than 900,000 for the first time since the government began collecting data in 1899.
According to Guinness, Tanaka was born on January 2, 1903, the year the Wright brothers took humanity’s first powered flight.
She married Hideo Tanaka in 1922 and had four children with him, as well as they adopted a fifth child.
Kane wakes up at 6 a.m. every day and spends her afternoons studying mathematics and also practicing calligraphy.
“One of Kane’s favorite pastimes is a game of Othello and she’s become an expert at the classic board game, often beating rest-home staff,” Guinness said.
