Kane Tanaka: World’s Oldest Person Dies Aged 119

• Kane Tanaka, the certified oldest person in the world, has died at the age of 119

• Local officials disclosed that the Japanese woman died of old age at a hospital in Fukuoka city, Japan

• Tanaka is also the second oldest person ever recorded, behind Jeanne Calment who had died at the age of 122

Kane Tanaka, the world’s oldest person, has died aged 119. The death of the Japanese woman was announced in a statement that was released by the Japan’s Ministry of Health, Labor, and Welfare.

The ministry disclosed that Tanaka who was born on January 2, 1903, had died on April 19 at a hospital in Fukuoka in Japan.

Guinness World Records confirmed that it had heard about’ Tanaka’s passing and it had been confirmed by senior gerontologist, Robert Young. Young was the same person who had helped to confirm her record as the oldest person alive in 2019.

According to Guinness World Records, Tanaka became the oldest living person in the world in January 2019. At that time, she was 116 years and 28 days old.

In addition to her record, Tanaka was also the second oldest person ever recorded. The record of the world’s oldest person ever belongs to French supercentenarian, Jeanne Calment. Calment was born in February 1875 and died in August 1997, at the age of 122.

Before her death, Tanaka’s family had said in a tweet that she was becoming sick frequently. They disclosed that she had been “in and out of the hospital” several times over the past few months.

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Her family also revealed that she had a sweet tooth that lasted in her final years. She continued to enjoy chocolate and soda even until she died.

Tanaka married rice shop owner, Hideo Tanaka in 1922 and the couple had five children together. She remained well active into her old age and worked in the family store until she was 103. She also survived cancer twice and lived through several historical events, including the Spanish Flu and COVID 19.

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