The world’s oldest person has died aged 119 years old.
Kane Tanaka – who was born on 2 January 1903 – passed away at a hospital in Fukuoka city on April 19, Japan’s state broadcaster has confirmed.
Local governor Seitaro Hattori said in a statement: “I was looking forward to seeing Kane-san on this year’s Respect for the Aged Day [a national holiday in September] and celebrating together with her favourite soda and chocolate.
“I am extremely saddened by the news.”
Kane – who previously owned a noodle shop – had lived at a nursing home, where she loved eating chocolate, drinking fizzy drinks and playing board games.
She turned 119 in January, and in a Twitter message posted by her family, she said: “I was able to come this far with the support of many people. I hope you will continue to have fun, [and be] cheerful and energetic.”
The world’s oldest woman – Jeanne Louise Calment – who was born in France on 21 February 1875, died on 4 August 1997, at the age of 122 years 164 days.
The oldest man ever is Japanese national Jiroemon Kimura, who was born on 19 April 1897 and died on 12 June 2013, aged 116 years 54 days.
Kane was confirmed by the Guinness World Records as the oldest person living in 2019.
In the year she was born, 1903, the Wright Brothers – Orville Wright and Wilbur Wright – flew for the first time, and physicist and chemist Marie Curie became the first-ever woman to win a Nobel Prize.