Yokohama, Japan — The seventh-oldest known living person in the world and the third-oldest in Japan, Masa Matsumoto, passed away on July 9th, at the age of 114 years, 223 days.
Matsumoto was born in Kōnan-cho, Kōka District (now part of the city of Kōka), Shiga Prefecture, Japan, on 29 November 1909. She was the eldest of seven children. After graduating from elementary school, she left her family home and spent several years working as a babysitter (Japanese: “Komori-Houkou”) at the Mitsubishi Group‘s mansion in Osaka. Around the age of 22, she married her childhood friend and had two children, a son and a daughter.
Other than a compression fracture in her lower back at the age of 108, she had no history of illness or injuries. She drank sake every day until she moved into a nursing home. Her family claimed that the secret of her longevity was her calm personality.
On 10 December 2022, at the age of 113, she became the oldest living person in Kanagawa Prefecture. At the time of her passing, she was the seventh-oldest living person whose age had been validated according to the LongeviQuest Atlas, and the third-oldest in Japan.
LongeviQuest sends our deepest condolences to the bereaved family and friends of Masa Matsumoto.
