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‘Live life cheerfully’: World’s oldest living person celebrates her 119th birthday in Japan

‘Live life cheerfully’: World’s oldest living person celebrates her 119th birthday in Japan

The world’s oldest living person, Kane Tanaka, celebrated her 119th birthday in Japan on Sunday. 

January 3, 2022
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The world’s oldest living person, Kane Tanaka, celebrated her 119th birthday in Japan on Sunday. 
Record-breaking birthday: Tanaka, who was recognized as the world’s oldest living person by Guinness World Records in 2019, was born on Jan. 2, 1903, and has lived through two world wars.
  • The supercentenarian currently resides at a nursing home in Fukuoka Prefecture where she enjoys solving math problems, according to CNN.
  • Tanaka is the seventh of nine siblings. She married at the age of 19 and worked in her family’s rice shop business until the age of 103. 
  • According to Kyodo News, she broke an all-time Japanese age record at the age of 117 years and 261 days. However, Tanaka’s goal is to reach 120 years old.  
  • Her great-granddaughter, Junko Tanaka, celebrated her birthday with a Twitter post along with photos of her ​great-grandmother. “Great achievement. (Kane Tanaka) reached 119 years of age. I was able to come this far with the support of many people. I hope you’ll continue to live life cheerfully and to the fullest,” she tweeted.
View post on Twitter
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  • Tanaka also loves chocolates and carbonated drinks such as Coca-Cola. The company gave her two personalized Coca-Cola bottles with her age and name as a birthday gift. 
View post on Twitter
  • “Birthday gift 1: Introducing the presents received for Kane’s birthday. Really appreciate this gift. Coca-Cola company made a commemorative birthday bottle. It seems (Kane) is still drinking Coca-Cola as usual,” Junko shared on Twitter, as translated by CNN.   
  • “I would like to personally congratulate her soon,” Tanaka’s grandson Eiji Tanaka (age 62) told Kyodo News. “I hope she remains healthy and has fun everyday as she grows older.”
Featured Images via South China Morning Post (left), @tanakakane0102 (right) 
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      Michelle De Pacina

      Michelle De Pacina is a New York-based Reporter for NextShark

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