LongeviQuest is pleased to announce the age validation of Aiko Ōkubo at 110 years old. She was a Japanese supercentenarian born on 28 January 1913 in Mito, Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan.
In 1934, she was married to a technical civil engineering officer from the Ministry of Home Affairs (now the Home Ministry of Japan). She had four children with him.
In 1938, the family travelled across the sea to live in Manchuria, Northeastern China, which was a puppet state of the Japanese empire. Aside from enduring extreme temperatures during winter, the family also had to endure too many hardships such as their 20 km walk to Dashiqiao. They even got bundled into a freight train going north wherein they jump off the train because they don’t know where they are going. After a long, perilous journey in China, the family managed to get into a boat bound for Japan. They arrived at Maizuru City, Kyoto Prefecture, in June 1946.
Aiko tried to return to her hometown in Mito but found it completely burned down. On the other hand, her husband’s family was safe and unharmed, and so he inherited his family’s construction business.
In August 2014, aged 101.
(Source: ibjcp.gr.jp)
Aiko travelled around Japan to visit nursing homes and give talks about her experiences. She would also play her Nagoya harp for them. Aiko did this until she was 104 years old.
Mrs. Ōkubo was proud that she was able to raise fine and well-rounded children despite the hardships that they had to go through in China. One became a university professor, the other became a doctor, and the third managed a private elderly care facility.
Mrs. Ōkubo passed away on 22 September 2023 in Mito City, Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan.
For more information, please visit Aiko Ōkubo’s Directory Profile here.
