The oldest person alive celebrated her 117th birthday by tucking into a bowl of strawberries and cream in 2020. Now, she is still in good health.
Kane Tanaka, from Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan, was born prematurely on January 2 1903.
She was confirmed as the oldest person on the planet in 2019 by the Guinness World Records.
The supercentenarian is still in good health and regularly beats her care home staff at board games.
Mrs Kane Tanaka was the seventh child of Kumakichi and Kuma Ota and married four days after her 19th birthday.
As was traditional at the time in Japan, Kane Tanaka did not meet husband Hideo Tanaka before their wedding day on January 6 1922.
The couple ran a business named Tanaka Mochiya. This company made and sold sticky rice, Zenzai (a type of Japanese sweets), and Udon noodles.
When her husband was called up for military service in 1937 during the Second Sino-Japanese W.a.r, she took on a larger role within the firm
The couple had four children and also adopted a fifth during their marriage.
Now she has five grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren.
Mr Tanaka and their eldest son Nobuo breathed their last in the Second World War and Mrs Tanaka carried on running the family firm until retiring aged 63.
The supercentenarian normally wakes up at 6am and often studies maths or calligraphy in the afternoon.
One of Mrs Tanaka ‘s favourite past times is the classic board game Othello. She regularly beats staff at the rest home in Fukuoka where she lives.
The lady has credited family, sleep and hope as her secrets for longevity and 3 years ago she said she would like to live until at least 120 years old.
Mrs Tanaka’s family said she has a strong appetite and enjoys sweets and soda.
In 2019, during a ceremony to mark officially being named the world’s oldest person, the lady immediately began tucking into a box of chocolates sent as a gift.
When asked how many chocolates she wanted to eat that day, she replied ‘100.’
Source: https://metro.co.uk/2020/01/02/worlds-oldest-living-person-celebrates-117th-birthday-11990707/
