BIOGRAPHY

Shin Hosono was born in Morita Village (now part of Ōta City), Gunma Prefecture, Japan, on 19 March 1902. She got married at the age of 22, and she and her husband had five children. She was involved in agricultural work for the family farming business, while her husband went on to work as a school principal.

Hosono’s hobby was writing Japanese tanka (short poems). At some point, she moved into a nursing home for the elderly. In September 2013, at the age of 111, she was visited at her nursing home by the governor of Gunma Prefecture and was presented with a congratulatory letter and a bouquet of flowers in celebration of Respect for the Aged Day.

Shin Hosono passed away at her nursing home in Ōta City, Gunma Prefecture, Japan, on 20 December 2013, at the age of 111 years, 276 days.

RECOGNITION

On 19 March 2012, she celebrated her 110th birthday, becoming the third supercentenarian in Gunma Prefecture, after Fuji Nozawa (1893–2004) and Hana Saito (who was only nine days older than Hosono).

On 29 March 2013, following the death of 111-year-old Hana Saito, she became the oldest living person in Gunma Prefecture. On 8 April, at the age of 111 years, 20 days, she surpassed Saito’s final age, becoming the oldest person ever to have lived in the prefecture.

Upon her passing, 109-year-old Umeno Sakurai succeeded her as the oldest living person in the Prefecture. Sakurai went on to surpass Hosono’s final age on 11 November 2015, becoming the new oldest person ever in the prefecture.

ATTRIBUTION

* “県内最高齢111歳の細野シンさん” – Tokyo Shimbun, 24 September 2013 (page 24)

GALLERY