BIOGRAPHY

Kame Nakamura was born in the district of Ageda in Okinawa City, Okinawa Prefecture, Japan, on 8 March 1898. At some point, she got married, and the couple moved to Hyōgo Prefecture to work as migrant workers. There, she ran a liquor wholesaler, but her husband died in 1942 at the age of 42. After World War II, she returned to Okinawa, where she raised four children on her own and ran an Okinawan soba restaurant until she was about 60 years old.

After closing the restaurant, she joined an elderly club and enjoyed playing gateball and dancing. Until she fell at the age of 106, breaking her hip and having difficulty walking, she did her own cooking and laundry, and she enjoyed making local dishes using Okinawan tofu. Although she was bedridden at the age of 114, she responded to calls from her family and the staff at the nursing home by saying “I love you” in English.

Nakamura passed away of old age in a hospital in Okinawa City, on 12 September 2012, at the age of 114 years, 188 days.

RECOGNITION

Following the death of 114-year-old Kama Chinen on 2 May 2010, she became the oldest living person in Okinawa prefecture.

At the time of her death, she was the fourth-oldest living person in Japan, after Jiroemon Kimura, Koto Ōkubo, and Misao Okawa.

At the time of her death, she was the second-oldest person to have ever lived in Okinawa Prefecture, after Chinen. She remained in the second spot until 16 October 2019, when Kame Ganeko surpassed her final age. Ganeko herself passed away just two days later.

Upon her passing, Toshie Yorimitsu succeeded her as the Prefecture’s oldest living resident.

ATTRIBUTION

• “再会 祖母は113歳/米から帰郷の勝子ゴースさん(67)” – Okinawa Times, October 15, 2011
• “仲村カメさん114歳の誕生日/県内最高齢 家族ら長寿祝う” – Ryukyu Shimpo, March 9, 2012

GALLERY