116-year-old Japanese woman all set to be named as world's oldest person

According to Guinness World Records, Japanese woman Tomiko Itooka will soon be named as world's oldest woman after the death of 117-year-old Maria Branyas

A Japanese woman, Tomiko Itooka, will soon achieve the title of the world's oldest living person at 116 after the death of the 117-year old Maria Branyas in Spain a couple of days ago.

The US-based Gerontology Research Group confirms Itooka’s birthdate to be May 23, 1908, placing her at the top of the World Supercentenarian Rankings List.

Former mountaineer and adventure junkie, Itooka, came into the headlines for her fitness level at the age of 100 when she climbed Japan's Ashiya Shrine without any support from cane leaving spectators spellbound. 

She moved to a nursing home in Ashiya, Hyogo in 2019, by that time she could move independently but now she needs a wheelchair. When she was 100, she could easily move without any cane support as we could see when she climbed up the Ashiya Shrine.

 

The Gerontology Research Group (GRG) shared a post on X (formerly known as Twitter) announcing that Tomiko Itooka of Ashiya, Hyogo Prefecture, Japan, had become the newest candidate to be ranked world’s oldest person alive.

Watch the tweet here:

The Gerontology Research Group (GRG) is pleased to announce that Mrs. Tomiko Itooka of Ashiya, Hyogo Prefecture, ???????? Japan, born 23.05.1908, aged 116, became the candidate for the GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS @GWR World’s Oldest Person title.https://t.co/W4xiEvpXc9 pic.twitter.com/z4fdZaJHin

— Gerontology Research Group (GRG) (@GerontologyGrg) August 20, 2024

Ikoota was born on May 23, 1908, in Osaka, and she currently lives in Ashiya, a city in the Hyogo province of western Japan. As per GRG, Itooka is the second eldest daughter among three siblings. 

When she was born, long-distance radio messages were first broadcast from the Eiffel Tower and the Wright brothers made their public flights in Europe and America. 

Itooka had always loved sports and adventure and she played at the volleyball club when she was a student. She completed her graduation from Osaka Jogakuin Junior and Senior High School. 

In her 70s, her love for adventure continued as she made an impressive climb to Japan's 3,067-metre Mount Ontake, wearing a pair of sneakers rather than hiking boots. 

She married when she was 20 years old; she has two daughters and two sons. During World War II, she took her husband's responsibility for managing a textile factory in South Korea. 

According to the research group, she ran a Japanese office on her own while raising her children. Her husband passed away in 1979 and then she independently lived in his hometown in Nara province for nearly a decade.