Matsu Kayō

BIOGRAPHY

Matsu Kayō (嘉陽マツ) was born on January 9, 1886, in the village of Wakugawa, Nakijin, Okinawa Prefecture, Japan, as the second daughter of Moruo Kohama and Uto. She was born into a farming family, and her parents were notably long-lived, both reaching their 70s—a rare feat at the time when the average life expectancy in Japan was only around 45. Among her siblings, two lived into their 80s, while her youngest sister passed away at 60.

Growing up in poverty, Kayō was sent at an early age to work as a servant in a relative’s household. She later recalled working tirelessly to support both herself and her family, driven by the need to survive. Kayō never attended school, as formal education was not widely available for girls in rural Okinawa at the time.

At the age of 20, she married a man chosen by her parents. As the third son, her husband did not inherit any land or wealth, and they began their life together with nothing but their own labor. Kayō described the early years of their marriage as difficult and sorrowful. Her husband left for the Daitō Islands to work in sugarcane fields, while she remained in Nakijin and worked hard to sustain the family. She carried pots of concentrated seawater for salt-making and sold them in distant villages, wove cloth on a loom, and grew vegetables in her home garden.

She gave birth to ten children, but tragically, six of them died in infancy. She was unable to bring them to a hospital, a fact she regretted deeply even in her later years. She once said that it was only when her eldest son got married and had children of his own that she finally felt a sense of happiness. During the war, two of her sons were drafted, but all members of the family survived. Her husband passed away at the age of 85.

She lived an active life well into old age. She worked in the fields until around the age of 95, underwent cataract surgery at 80, and continued to live independently for many years. At 90, she traveled to Kume Island and did her own housework until the age of 93. She ate almost everything except dairy products and especially enjoyed Okinawan-style seasoned pork.

In her 100s, she lived with the family of one of her grandchildren, along with her daughter-in-law, who was her primary caregiver. They had a close but occasionally spirited relationship, as Kayō remained strong-willed and independent. She did her own laundry, bathed every other day, and maintained a healthy appetite. She enjoyed drinking tea with neighbors and dancing the traditional Okinawan kachāshī.

At the age of 107, she moved into the Otsubaen Elderly Care Home in Tinsoko, Nakijin, as her caregiver had also grown elderly. Though she used a wheelchair, she actively took part in activities such as singing, light exercise, and dancing during celebrations. She maintained a regular daily routine—waking at 5:30 a.m. and going to bed around 9:00 p.m. The facility’s director at the time, Fumio Takara, described her as cheerful and mentally sharp, noting that she even gave advice to her 86-year-old son when he visited.

In 1997, after the passing of Gengan Tonaki, Kayō became the oldest living person in Okinawa Prefecture at the age of 110. By September 1998, she was the third-oldest living person in Japan, following Tase Matsunaga and Yasu Akino.

Her extended family included nearly 120 people across five generations. In her final weeks, family members visited her daily as her health declined.

Matsu Kayō passed away at Otsubaen Elderly Care Home in Nakijin Village, Okinawa Prefecture, on December 13, 1998, at the age of 112 years and 338 days. At the time of her death, she was the second-oldest living person in Japan, following Yasu Akino, and the eighth-oldest living person in the world whose age had been validated.

RECOGNITION

Kayō became Okinawa’s oldest living person following the death of 112-year-old Gengan Tonaki on 24 January 1997. In April 1998, she surpassed Tonaki’s age to become the oldest person ever in the prefecture.

After Kayō’s death, 111-year-old Kamado Okuhara became the oldest resident of Okinawa. Her prefectural longevity record was broken by Kama Chinen in April 2008.

Kayō’s age was verified by Robert Young and validated by the GRG posthumously.