The world's oldest person from the southwestern Japanese city of Fukuoka died at the age of 119 on April 19, the local government said Monday.
Kane Tanaka was born on Jan. 2, 1903, the year Wilbur and Orville Wright made the world's first successful flight of powered aircraft and a year before the outbreak of the Russo-Japanese War.
Her life spanned several Japanese imperial eras -- Meiji, Taisho, Showa, Heisei and Reiwa.
She was recognized by Guinness World Records as the world's oldest person in March 2019, at the age of 116. In addition, she became the oldest person ever on record in Japan after turning 117 years, 261 days old in September 2020.
Tanaka, the seventh of nine siblings, married when she was 19. She supported her family by running a noodle shop when her husband Hideo and their eldest son went to fight in the Second Sino-Japanese War that started in 1937. The couple ran a rice cake store after the war.
Tanaka ascribed her longevity to "eating delicious food and learning." Her favorite treats included soda and chocolate. She spent her later years in a Fukuoka nursing home, where she enjoyed playing the board game Reversi, among other activities.
Famous people born in 1903 include British novelist George Orwell, film director Yasujiro Ozu and Japanese poet Misuzu Kaneko.
With Tanaka's death, the world's oldest person is Lucile Randon, a French woman who is 118 years, 73 days, according to the Gerontology Research Group, which tracks supercentenarians globally.
Japan's oldest person is now Fusa Tatsumi, a 115-year-old woman living in Kashiwara, Osaka Prefecture, the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare said.
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