Japanese Woman, Last Person Born in The 19th Century, Dies at Age 117

April 23, 2018

A 117-year-old Japanese woman known for being the world’s oldest person passed away on Saturday evening.

Nabi Tajima, who was born on August 4, 1900, was the last known person to be born in the 19th century. She lives in Kikai, a town in Kagoshima Prefecture on Kyushu, the southernmost of Japan’s four main islands.

Kikai official Susumu Yoshiyuki confirmed that Tajima died of old age at a local hospital.

“Ms. Tajima was living at a nursing center for the elderly. In January, she became weaker, so she was taken to a local hospital,” Yoshiyuki was quoted as saying. “She died there due to her advanced age.”

Tajima had over 160 descendants, including her great-great-great-grandchildren, according to the Associated Press.

She took the title of the world’s oldest living person seven months ago after the death of Jamaican Violet Brown, who died at the age of 117 in September 2017. Her achievement was celebrated with a ceremony broadcast on Japanese television with a video of Tajima swaying her arms to traditional Japanese music.

She died before she was recognized by Guinness World Records as the world’s oldest person.

Earlier this month, the annual reference book for human achievement certified 112-year-old Masazo Nonaka of northern Japan as the world’s oldest man.

With Tajima’s death, Chiyo Miyako, another Japanese woman, is now the world’s oldest person, according to the U.S.-based Gerontology Research Group.

Miyako, who will turn 117 in less than two weeks, lives in Kanagawa Prefecture in Kantō region just south of Tokyo.

Japan, which has the highest life expectancy in the world, has around 68,000 people age 100 or older, based on government statistics.

Feature Image via YouTube / ODN

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