Supercentenarian Profile

Fusa Yamanashi (山梨ふさ)

Born:

1882-05-03

Chiyoda Ward, Tokyo Prefecture,

Japan

Died:

1993-04-04

Hachioji, Tokyo Prefecture,

Japan

✔ Age Certified by LongeviQuest

Fusa Yamanashi (Japanese: 山梨ふさ) was a Japanese supercentenarian whose age has been validated by LongeviQuest.

BIOGRAPHY

Fusa Yamanashi (山梨ふさ) was born in Kudan, Tokyo (now Chiyoda Ward), Japan, on 3 May 1882. She lost both of her parents at an early age and, in her early twenties, married a man who worked as an art journalist for the Jiji Shimpō, a now-defunct daily newspaper. The couple had four sons and three daughters. While raising her children, she continued to teach many students as a certified tea ceremony instructor.

After her children grew up, she supported her husband when he started his own art dealership around 1925. He passed away in 1935, but she continued to be active in various women’s organizations, such as the International Liaison Committee, which served as Japan’s contact for the International Council of Women in Geneva, and the Women’s Aviation Association, composed of noble and upper-class women. Through these activities, she developed friendships with many cultural figures.

In 1940, she moved to Hachiōji, Tokyo, to live with her daughter and son-in-law. The move was partly to settle her late husband’s debts and also to evacuate during wartime, but another reason was her love for nature. The scenery of Mount Takao reminded her of the years when she was a young woman in Hida-Takayama, a place dear to her heart. Even after settling in Takao, she remained active in women’s associations.

Even in her nineties, Yamanashi traveled throughout Japan and enjoyed plays and historical dramas, remembering kabuki lines by heart. Her hobbies included gardening, tea ceremony, flower arrangement, and calligraphy. Even after turning 100, she continued to serve guests with freshly whisked matcha and regularly wrote letters to her friends. She was known for her cheerful and independent nature, and for always keeping a sense of gratitude.

Yamanashi also loved fashion; at 104, she still wore floral blouses, necklaces, and mustard colored kimonos with care. She later opened her study to the citizens’ group “Association to Protect the Nature of Mt. Takao,” which opposed the construction of the Ken-Ō Expressway, and even met the mayor herself to express her opinion.

By 1990, at age 108, she was ranked as the 13th-oldest person in Japan and was living in a nursing home in Hachiōji. In September 1991, at 109, she became the 8th-oldest nationwide, and the home held a celebration where she cheerfully led a toast. Though slightly hard of hearing and often using a wheelchair, she remained strong, alert, and followed a regular routine —waking up around six, going to bed at nine, and enjoying tea and television, including historical and romantic dramas. The home’s director described her as “youthful in spirit and remarkably sharp-minded.” She attributed her longevity to not worrying, staying grateful, and eating three balanced meals a day.

Her sociable and talkative personality remained unchanged. When foreign visitors came to observe the nursing home, she warmly greeted them with a handshake, saying, “Thank you for coming.” Because of this, she was affectionately nicknamed “the diplomat.”

In 1991, following the death of Ai Kawasaki at age 110, Yamanashi became the oldest living person in Tokyo. By September 1992, she ranked fourth nationally.

Fusa Yamanashi passed away from natural causes in a hospital in Hachiōji, Tokyo, on 4 April 1993, at the age of 110 years and 336 days.