Shitsui Konishi, a resident of Tōkai village, Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan, passed away on 23 October, at the age of 110 years, 64 days.
Shitsui Konishi (小西 志つい) was born in Komatsu Village (now Shirosato Town), Ibaraki Prefecture, on 20 August 1915, as the eldest of six siblings.
After graduating from elementary school, she spent about four years working as a live-in maid, which was a common path for young women in Japan at the time. She later moved to Hitachi City, where her parents were living, and there she met her future husband. The couple married when she was in her mid-20s.
In 1943, she gave birth to a daughter, but her husband was killed in the war soon afterward. As a young widow, Konishi faced the hardship of raising a child during Japan’s postwar recovery. She entrusted her daughter to her parents’ care. Then she moved to Tokyo and worked in the hospitality industry to provide for her daughter back in Ibaraki. She remained in Tokyo until around the age of 70, when she returned to Ibaraki Prefecture and settled in Tokai Village, near the home of her daughter and son-in-law.
Even in her later years, Konishi lived alone in a house close to her daughter and son-in-law until she turned 110. In her final months, she lived in a nursing home in Tokai Village.
We extend our heartfelt condolences to the family and loved ones of Shitsui Konishi during this difficult time.
