The oldest woman in the world: Tomiko Itooka
A Japanese woman, Tomiko Itooka, will soon achieve the title of the oldest living person in the world at the age of 116, following the death of 117-year-old Maria Branyas in Spain a couple of days ago.
The U.S.-based Gerontology Research Group confirms Itooka’s birth date as May 23, 1908, placing her at the top of the World Supercentenarian Ranking List.
Former mountaineer and adventure junkie Itooka made headlines for her fitness at the age of 100 when she scaled Japan’s Ashiya Shrine without the support of a walking stick, leaving onlookers spellbound.
In 2019, she moved to a nursing home in Ashiya, Hyogo. At that time, she was already able to move independently, but now she needs a wheelchair. When she was 100 years old, she could easily move around without the aid of a cane, as we could see when she climbed 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 latest candidate to be classified as the world’s oldest living person.
See the tweet here:
The Gerontology Research Group (GRG) is pleased to announce that Ms. Tomiko Itooka from Ashiya, Hyogo Prefecture, ???????? Japan, born on May 23, 1908, aged 116, became the candidate for the GUINNESS WORLD RECORD @GWR Title of the oldest person in the world.https://t.co/W4xiEvpXc9 photo.twitter.com/z4fdZaJHin— Gerontology Research Group (GRG) (@GerontologyGrg) August 20, 2024
Ikoota was born on May 23, 1908 in Osaka and currently lives in Ashiya, a city in Hyogo Prefecture in western Japan. According to GRG, Itooka is the second oldest child among three siblings.
When she was born, long-distance radio messages were transmitted for the first time from the Eiffel Tower and the Wright brothers made their public flights in Europe and America.
Itooka had always loved sports and adventure, and played in the volleyball club as a student. He graduated from Osaka’s Jogakuin Junior High School and High School.
At 70, his love of adventure continued when he made a stunning climb of 3,067-metre Mount Ontake in Japan, wearing a pair of trainers instead of hiking boots.
She married at the age of 20 and has two daughters and two sons. During World War II, she took over her husband’s responsibility for running a textile factory in South Korea.
According to the research group, she ran an office in Japan on her own while raising her children. Her husband died in 1979 and she then lived independently in her hometown in Nara Prefecture for nearly a decade.
First published: August 23, 2024 | 16:15 IS
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