World's oldest person Misao Okawa dies at 117

Misao Okawa, a Japanese woman recognized by Guinness World Records as the world's oldest living person, died of natural causes at the age of 117 on Wednesday morning at a nursing home in Osaka, nursing home officials said.

Okawa was born to the family of a kimono shop owner in Osaka in 1898, the same year the United States annexed the Hawaiian Islands and Pepsi-Cola was launched.

She was recognized by Guinness as the oldest living woman in February 2013 at 114 and became the oldest living being at 115 in June the same year, when Jiroemon Kimura, a Japanese man who was then the world's oldest, died at 116 in Kyoto.

Okawa got married in 1919 and had a son and two daughters. She had four grandchildren and six great-grandchildren as of March, according to the Guinness website.

She entered the nursing home in 1997 as nursing care was required.

"Eating delicious things is a key to my longevity," said Okawa who loved ramen noodles and beef stew, as well as hashed beef and rice.

She ate some cake to celebrate her 117th birthday in early March, the officials said.

But she lost her appetite some 10 days ago and died in her sleep while being watched by relatives and nursing home officials, they said.


Source: Asia nikkei