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The world’s oldest person has died a couple of weeks after she celebrated hed 117th birthday
Japanese Misao Okawa, who believed her life seemed ‘rather short’, passed away surrounded by her family and staff at her nursing home in Osaka, Japan. The oldest person in the world died of heart failure on April 1.
The Japanese great-grandmother was born on March 5, 1898. She had survived two World Wars, but also the invention of the television and the first flight of the Wright Brothers.
When she turned 117 years-old last month, Okawa said that her life had seemed ”rather short.” The Japanese women was asked what is the secret of her longevity, to which she repiled: ”I wonder about that too.”
Okawa, the fourth daughter of a kimono maker, was born in Osaka, west Japan. In 1919, she married her husband, Yukio, and they had two daughters and a son. Her husband died in 1931.
The Japanese grand-grandmother who was only fifth person in recorded history to have reached the age of 117. She was still walking until she was 110. Okawa was accepted as the world’s oldest person by the Guinness World Records in 2013.
Nursing staff said that until 10 days ago she was eating well, enjoying her favorite dishes and a daily cup of coffee. Tomohiro Okada, a staff worker at the nursing home, said: ”She went so peacefully, as if she had just fallen asleep. We will miss her a lot.”
The new world’s oldest person is Gertrude Weaver, aged 116. She lives in in Arkansas and was born on July 4, 1898, according to Los Angeles-based Geronotology Research Group.
In an interview with Time Magazine in 2014, right after she became America’s oldest woman, Gertrude said the secret to her long life is kindness. “Treat people right and be nice to other people the way you want them to be nice to you”, she explained.
Japan’s oldest person is now a woman from Tokyo. She is 115-year-old, according to the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare. Her name was not made public at the request of her family, who probably want to stay away from the high media interest, the ministry said. She was born March 15, 1900.
Japan has more than 58,000 centenarians, being the country with the most in the world, according to official data, while approximately 87 percent of them are women.
Image Source: Phil News
