A 116-year-old Japanese woman is set to be named as the oldest living person in the world.
Tomiko Itooka, born in Osaka City, Japan, is now a candidate for the title of the Guinness World Record after the passing of the previous record holder, 117-year-old Maria Branyas Morera from Olot, Catalonia, Spain, who died on August 19.
“The Gerontology Research Group is pleased to announce that Mrs. Tomiko Itooka of Ashiya, Hyogo Prefecture, Japan, born May 23, 1908, aged 116 years and 3 months, became the candidate for the GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS World’s Oldest Person title,” the research group said.
Following her husband’s death in 1979, she lived alone in her Nara Prefecture hometown for about a decade.
During this time, she frequently climbed mountains, including Mt. Nijo, and twice ascended the 3,000-meter-high Mt. Ontake, surprising her guide by doing so in regular sneakers instead of hiking boots, the GRG said.
She participated twice in the Osaka 33 Kannon Pilgrimage, a pilgrimage to 33 temples, in her 80s. And at 100 years old, she climbed the lengthy stone steps of Ashiya Shrine without a cane.
She celebrated her 110th birthday in May 2018, officially becoming a supercentenarian.
As the oldest validated person ever known to reside in Hyogo Prefecture, now a candidate worldwide, Itooka also earned the following longevity titles:
- Oldest living person in Hyogo Prefecture (April 30, 2022 – present)
- Longevity recordholder of Hyogo Prefecture (May 5, 2022 – present)
- Doyenne of Japan (December 12, 2023 – present)
