Ashiya City, Hyogo Prefecture, Japan – Tomiko Itooka, 116, was honored today as the World’s Oldest Person during a ceremony at her residence. Born in 1908, Mrs. Itooka became the World’s Oldest Person earlier this week following the passing of 117-year-old María Branyas Morera of Spain. She is the first Japanese citizen to hold this title since April 2022, when Kane Tanaka passed away at age 119.
Mrs. Itooka’s second son, Mr. Hiroshi Kai, and Les Ashiya, a comprehensive nursing home, kindly granted permission for Yumi Yamamoto (山本優美), Japan’s Research President for LongeviQuest, to visit Mrs. Itooka, whom she has been interviewing for over the past two years. Yamamoto had previously met Mrs. Itooka in person at her 116th birthday celebration in May. During the visit, Mrs. Itooka was presented with the World’s Oldest Person trophy, certified by LongeviQuest.
At the end of the visit, when Yamamoto said, “Thank you for today,” Mrs. Itooka replied, “Thank you very much, too.” She then waved goodbye to her as she left.
In addition to being the world’s oldest living person, Tomiko Itooka is also the 23rd-oldest person in recorded history. She became the oldest person in Japan on December 12, 2023, following the passing of 116-year-old Fusa Tatsumi.
Tomiko Itooka was born in Osaka City, Japan, on 23 May 1908, as the second of three siblings. She married at the age of 20 and raised two daughters and two sons. During the war, she managed her husband’s textile factory in Japan while raising her children alone. After her husband’s death in 1979, she lived alone in his hometown in Nara Prefecture, where she frequently enjoyed climbing mountains such as Mt. Nijo and Mt. Ontake. Even at the age of 100, she climbed the long stone steps of Ashiya Shrine without the aid of a cane. Before moving to the nursing home, she lived imdependently until she was 110.
We would like to express our sincere gratitude to the nursing home and its staff for their kindness and hospitality in allowing us to visit Mrs. Itooka. We also extend our thanks to Mrs. Itooka for graciously receiving our representative. We wish her much health and happiness and hope to meet her again soon!
We deeply appreciate and thank our photographer, Mr. Yūki Haginaga(萩永 悠貴), for the beautiful photos:
Tomiko Itooka (糸岡富子), with LongeviQuest representative Yumi Yamamoto (山本優美), Atsushi Kishimoto, CEO of Nursing Home (left), and Dr. Kōno.
© LongeviQuest
