Kama Nakasone

BIOGRAPHY

Kama Nakasone (仲宗根 蒲) was born in Sonan, Ishikawa City (now part of Uruma City), Okinawa Prefecture, Japan, on November 23, 1891.

Before World War II, he farmed in Saipan, and after the war, he returned to Ishikawa City, where he made a living by growing sugarcane and raising pigs. He and his wife Matsuya had five sons and eight daughters, and by his later years, he had dozens of great-great-grandchildren.

Nakasone remained active into his nineties, even riding a bicycle until his family eventually asked him to stop. At the same time, he was careful about his health and would visit the doctor promptly if he felt unwell. A devoted husband, he cared for his wife on his own until her death in 1970. After her passing, he lived alone until the age of 104. He enjoyed entertaining guests on a sofa he had set up in his yard and often shared his homegrown yams and vegetables with neighbors.

Throughout his life, he reportedly held the goal of living to 120.

In October 2002, he injured an old wound in his leg and was hospitalized after transferring from a nursing home. He later developed a fever and his health gradually declined.

Nakasone passed away from natural causes in Gushikawa City (now part of Uruma City), Okinawa Prefecture, on January 1, 2003, at the age of 111 years and 39 days. He had become the oldest living person in Okinawa Prefecture on April 9, 2002, following the death of Kame Nagayama. After his passing, Kame Ue of Naha City succeeded him as the prefecture’s oldest living resident.

At the time of his death, he was the 8th-oldest living man in the world and the 4th-oldest living man in Japan.

RECOGNITION

His age was validated by the Gerontology Research Group.

ATTRIBUTION

• “長寿番付県内男性１位・仲宗根蒲さん（１０８歳）／恋とユーモア元気の秘けつ／１２０歳まで生きると思う／はつらつシルバー” － Okinawa Times, September 8, 2000
• “県内最高齢／仲宗根蒲さん死去／１１１歳” － Ryukyu Shimpo, January 3, 2003

GALLERY

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