The world’s oldest living person, Tomiko Itooka, passed away peacefully from natural causes on December 29th, 2024, at 9:03 pm. She was 116 years and 220 days old.

Tomiko Itooka was born on May 23, 1908, in Osaka City, Osaka Prefecture, Japan, as the second child and eldest daughter in a family of three siblings. After completing her education at Osaka Jogakuin Junior and Senior High School, she married in her early 20s and became a devoted mother to two daughters and two sons.

During the war, she replaced her husband, who ran a textile factory in South Korea, and she alone protected a Japanese office while raising her children. After the death of her husband in 1979, she moved to Nara Prefecture, where she embraced hiking and spirituality. She frequently climbed Mount Nijo and even ascended the 3,000-meter-high Mount Ontake twice in ordinary sneakers.

A devout Buddhist, Itooka completed the Osaka 33 Kannon Pilgrimage twice in her 80s and continued to climb the stone steps of Ashiya Shrine and visit temples well into her centenarian years.

On April 30, 2022, following the death of a 115-year-old anonymous woman, Itooka became the oldest living person in Hyogo Prefecture, Japan. Her age was verified by Japan’s Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, and she was later validated by the Gerontology Research Group (GRG) and LongeviQuest.

On December 12, 2023, after the passing of 116-year-old Fusa Tatsumi, Itooka became the oldest living person in Japan and the third-oldest living person in the world. Following the death of María Branyas Morera on August 19, 2024, at the age of 117, Itooka became the world’s oldest living person. In May 2024, she celebrated her 116th birthday, and in August 2024, she received the World’s Oldest Person trophy from LongeviQuest representatives.

At the time of her passing, Mrs. Itooka ranked as the 19th oldest validated individual in recorded history.

LongeviQuest has confirmed that Brazil’s Inah Canabarro Lucas, aged 116, has become the world’s oldest living person following Mrs. Itooka’s passing. Additionally, the title of Japan’s oldest living person has been passed on to Okagi Hayashi.

LongeviQuest sends our deepest condolences to the bereaved family and friends of Tomiko Itooka.