By Martin Fackler
Tomiko Itooka, a woman from Japan born prior to World War I and the sinking of the Titanic, who was thought to be the oldest individual globally, passed away at a care facility in Ashiya, Japan. She was 116 years old.
In a statement issued on Saturday, the mayor of Ashiya noted that Itooka died on December 29. While he did not specify a cause, local news outlets reported that she passed away peacefully due to complications linked to her advanced age.
“I extend my heartfelt sympathies,” remarked Mayor Ryosuke Takashima. “Ms. Itooka has inspired us with immense courage and optimism throughout her lengthy life. I would like to once again express my appreciation.”
Itooka was recognized as the oldest living person by Guinness World Records in September following the death of Maria Branyas Morera from Spain at 117 years old.
Born Tomiko Yano on May 23, 1908, in Osaka, she was one of three children in a family that ran a clothing shop. At that time, her nation was a burgeoning imperial power that had recently triumphed over czarist Russia in warfare and was starting to expand into mainland Asia.
In the year she was born, Japan entered an accord with the secretary of state under President Theodore Roosevelt that prevented strife with the United States in exchange for acknowledgment from Washington regarding Japan’s annexation of Korea. Throughout her lifetime, she witnessed her country evolve into an Asian colonial power, face a catastrophic defeat in 1945, and subsequently rise as an industrial powerhouse and peaceful democracy.
Growing up in pre-war Japan, she participated in volleyball during high school before marrying Kenji Itooka, the proprietor of a textile company, with whom she had two daughters and two sons. During World War II, she remained in Japan to manage the business while her husband went to Korea—then a Japanese colony—to oversee a factory.
“She independently managed a Japanese office and nurtured her children during this time,” stated the Gerontology Research Group, which maintains a record of the world’s oldest individuals.
Following her husband’s death in 1979 after 51 years of marriage, Itooka relocated to Ashiya, a city near Osaka, where she continued to be an enthusiastic hiker well into her 80s. At age 100, reports suggested she was still climbing the stone steps of her local Shinto shrine without a walking aid.
When a local media outlet once inquired about the secret to her long life, she supposedly attributed it to her diet of bananas and drinking Calpis, a Japanese dairy product. Itooka is survived by one daughter, one son, and an unspecified number of her five grandchildren.
