BIOGRAPHY

Terue Ichikawa was born in Shimanto City, Kōchi Prefecture, Japan on May 10, 1900. She married into a Susaki City family around the age of 20 before moving back to Shimanto City around the age of 26. They had five children; four boys and one girl. Her husband passed away due to illness when she was around 52, leaving to raise her children on her own. She worked keeping pigs, helping out with the family masonry business; and remarkably, selling vegetables by pulling a cart loaded with produce around by foot until the age of 90.

Ichikawa was said to eat most things, but preferred meat to fish and didn’t like natto (fermented soybeans). She particularly enjoyed boiled pumpkin, rabbit, chestnut manjū (steamed yeast bun with filling​), and Sōmen (fine white noodles​). According to her son, she drank a glass of milk every evening between the ages of 70-90.

Ichikawa moved permanently into hospital after a deterioration in her condition at the age of 103. When she was 106, she said her greatest enjoyment in life was talking to her friends. At the time of the third visit from the mayor in 2006 at the age of 107, she would reportedly sleep for two days at a time, before waking as normal for two days. Other than being hard of seeing and hearing, she was said to be in good health, and ate three meals a day with snacks in between. She was the oldest person in Shimanto City at this time.

By the time of the sixth visit at the age of 111 in September 2011, Ichikawa was the oldest living person in Kōchi Prefecture. On her good days, she reportedly sang war songs from her youth. She had eight grandchildren, eighteen great-grandchildren, and nine great-great grandchildren at this time.

According to her family, Ichikawa was tough, hard-working, and had keen discernment.

Terue Ichikawa passed away in hospital in Shimanto City, Kōchi Prefecture, Japan on January 19, 2012 at the age of 111 years, 254 days.

Terue Ichikawa passed away in hospital in Shimanto City, Kōchi Prefecture, Japan on January 19, 2012 at the age of 111 years, 254 days.

RECOGNITION

Her age was validated by the Gerontology Research Group on 19 September 2011, with her later being recognized by LongeviQuest.

ATTRIBUTION

＊”市川さん111歳、甘いもの好物 県内最高齢長寿祝う /高知” Asahi Shimbun, September 28, 2011, Osaka local edition/Kochi, 35 pages

GALLERY