BIOGRAPHY

Uchiyama was born in Nagasaki Prefecture’s capital city of the same name on 27 February 1907. She studied English at a girls’ school in Tokyo. She was married and had three daughters, but raised them alone after she was widowed aged 38.

At the age of 104, Uchiyama moved into a nursing home in Tomachi, Nagasaki City. To celebrate Keiro no hi in 2014, she was visited by the city’s mayor and presented with a blanket, among other congratulatory gifts. Accompanying her were her three daughters and two granddaughters.

Throughout her life, Uchiyama had several hobbies, including cooking and knitting. She was said to have a talent for knitting due to her dexterity. She regularly produced garments for her daughters.

Uchiyama’s daughter Fumiko remembered her mother teaching her English. She recounted, “She [Uchiyama] would hold an English book in one hand, and a dictionary in the other.”

Uchiyama died in her nursing home on 28 July 2019 at the age of 112 years, 151 days.

RECOGNITION

Following the 4 January 2019 death of Tsunahei Ogawa, Uchiyama became Nagasaki’s oldest resident. She later became the fourth person in the prefecture to reach the age of 112, after Rin Aoyagi, Shika Shimada, and Yoshino Tanaka.

Upon Uchiyama’s own death, Sasebo resident Masue Oura became the oldest living person in Nagasaki.

Uchiyama’s age was verified by Takeo Inishie, Tzen Wei Tseng, and Japan’s Ministry of Health, Labour, and Welfare (MHLW), and was validated by the GRG on 20 May 2019.

ATTRIBUTION

• “敬老の日　長崎市内女性最高齢・107歳内山マサヱさんに記念品”　NHK News September 15, 2014

• “県内最高齢112歳”　August 24, 2019 Nagasaki Shimbun

GALLERY