BIOGRAPHY

Take Abe was born in the village of Kitamatsuno, (later Fujikawa, present-day city of Fuji), Ihara District, Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan, on 31 July 1879. After dropping out of Shizuoka Girls’ High School (now Seika High School), she married a doctor who lived in the same district. The couple had three children, all of whom died young. Her husband also died when she was in her 40s.

Between the ages of 100 to 103, she lived alone in Shimizu City until entering a nursing home in August 1982. From around the age of 108, she spent a lot of time in bed due to her chronic heart disease, but she enjoyed talking with the staff every day. She didn’t like to be interfered with, and before she became bedridden, she tried to do as much as she could on her own.

Take Abe passed away in Shizuoka City, Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan, on 15 October 1991, at the age of 112.

RECOGNITION

On 8 June 1985, following the death of 108-year-old Kiku Katsumata (Japanese: 勝又きく) of Gotemba, Abe became the oldest living person in Shizuoka Prefecture.

In September 1986, at the age of 107, Abe appeared as number 18 in the “National Elderly Persons List” released by the Ministry of Health and Welfare, and had been listed every year since.

On 17 October 1988, at the age of 109 years, 78 days, she surpassed the final age of Haru Komai (1854–1963), becoming the oldest person to ever live in Shizuoka Prefecture. She held this title until her final age was surpassed by Yasu Akino in May 1997.

In July 1989, she celebrated her 110th birthday, becoming the first supercentenarian in Shizuoka Prefecture.

ATTRIBUTION

* “県内最高齢者、全国でも3位　阿部たけさん死去” – Shizuoka Shimbun (evening edition, page 7), 17 October 1991

* “112歳県内最高齢　阿部さんが死去」” – Asahi Shinbun, 18 October 1991

GALLERY