Mine Kondō

BIOGRAPHY

Mine Kondō (近藤ミネ) was born on 1 September 1910, in the village of Ikuma (伊熊: now part of Toyota City), Aichi, Japan, as the fifth of seven siblings.

At the age of 20, she married a farmer from Higashihagihira (東萩平町), and together they had a total of nine children. However, only six of them—three sons and three daughters—survived, as three of her children passed away at a young age. She gave birth to her youngest child at the age of 40.

After marriage, she engaged in agriculture while also raising silkworms and making handmade paper, all while raising her children. She continued farming well into her 90s, growing vegetables in her fields.

Until she broke her hip at the age of 101, she could push a pushcart up and down a steep slope to her home. Around the age of 103, she had an intestinal obstruction and underwent surgery. Her doctors told her it would take 3 months to make a full recovery, but she recovered in 4 days and was discharged in 2 weeks. After she turned 101, she began attending a daycare center in Nagoya, and by the time she was 112, she started going to a daycare service from her home twice a week to enjoy activities such as calligraphy.

In an interview with LongeviQuest in May 2023, her family said they never saw her speak ill of others, and how she has a big, positive personality, and how she never got stressed out about smaller issues.

On 5 August 2024, LongeviQuest made a celebratory visit and sent a bouquet of flowers and a plaque. At the time, she had 16 grandchildren, 32 great-grandchildren, and more than 10 great-great-grandchildren. On good days, she enjoyed shopping with other daycare center users or taking short trips by bus. She especially loved going on drives, during which she would become very talkative while admiring the cityscape. She could still eat regular food on her own and especially loved fruit. Throughout the day, she frequently enjoyed drinking her favorite tea.

She lived at home with her second daughter and granddaughter until the age of 114 years and one month, after which she moved into a nursing home. She then lived healthily and peacefully in a nursing home in Kota Town, Aichi Prefecture, near her youngest daughter’s home, and frequently enjoyed visits from her family. In early March 2025, on good days, she sang cheerfully, but later that month, she was hospitalized due to aspiration pneumonia and remained hospitalized as of late April 2025.

Mine Kondō passed away in Kōta, Aichi Prefecture, Japan, on 20 May 2025, at the age of 114 years, 261 days.

RECOGNITION

When she was 105 years old, the mayor of Toyota City visited her. On that occasion, she sang her favorite jikyōgen (地狂言) song to the mayor and presented her handmade cloth sandals as a thank-you gift. At that time, she said the secret to her longevity was: “To eat and sleep well. Also, to make zori sandals and to move my hands.”

On 2 March 2023, following the death of 112-year-old Shizu Narita, she became the oldest living person in Aichi Prefecture.

On 5 August 2024, Kondō was visited by LongeviQuest representatives Yumi Yamamoto and Ben Meyers, presenting her with a plaque recognising her status as Aichi Prefecture’s oldest resident.

On 29 December 2024, following the passing of 116-year-old Tomiko Itooka, she became the fifth-oldest living person in the world, and the second-oldest in Japan, after Okagi Hayashi.

On 26 April 2025, following the passing of Okagi Hayashi, she became the Oldest Living Person in Japan at the age of 114 years, 237 days. At that time, she also became the fourth-oldest living person in the world. Just a few days later, on 30 April, after the death of Inah Canabarro Lucas of Brazil, she rose to third place globally (only after Ethel Caterham and Marie-Rose Tessier).

Kondō held the title of the nation’s oldest living resident for 24 days, until her own passing, when she was succeeded by Masu Usui.