BIOGRAPHY

Toshie Ōmae was born on 27 April 1915, in Ōniya, Kaibara Town (now part of Tanba City), Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan. At the age of 20, she married and moved to Kiyozumi in the former town of Hikami (also now part of Tanba City), where she raised five children. During World War II, she lived in Kyoto and recalled that the area was not directly bombed.

In 2015, at the age of 99, she moved into a special nursing home in Tanba City. Even in advanced age, she has remained mentally sharp and physically active. At 110, she was still able to move around by slowly pushing her wheelchair with her feet. Ōmae read newspapers daily until around the age of 108, when reading small print became difficult. After then, she stayed informed by watching television.

At age 108, Ōmae was able to identify countries and places such as Sudan, India, Dubai, and Iran on a world map during conversations with her family, connecting them to places where her children and grandchildren had lived or visited.

Ōmae celebrated her 110th birthday in April 2025 with her family and the care home staff. she said it was not being picky about food and not dwelling on things. She added, “I want to continue cherishing each and every day.”

As of May 2025, she still enjoyed crafts such as origami and knitting and maintains a regular daily routine, including short naps and going to bed at a consistent time. In earlier years, she also enjoyed farming, which was one of her lifelong hobbies. At the nursing home, she continued to practice calligraphy and flower arranging, and solved simple arithmetic problems as part of her daily activities. She retained vivid memories from her childhood, including the joy of electricity being introduced to Kaibara and villagers performing rainmaking rituals in the mountains during droughts that cracked the rice fields.

RECOGNITION

In September 2024, she was formally visited by the mayor of Tanba City, who honored her as the city’s oldest living resident and presented her with a certificate and flowers.

Her age was verified by Japan’s Ministry of Health, Labour, and Welfare (MHLW), as well as Ryohei Asano and Yumi Yamamoto, and validated by LongeviQuest on 24 May 2025.

ATTRIBUTION

* “＜ニュースふぁいる＞ 入居者の長寿祝う” – Kōbe Shimbun, 3 October 2015

* “アクリル板越しに元気な姿 特養入所の108歳が家族と面会” – Tanba Shimbun, 4 May 2023

* “丹波市内の最高齢109歳　大前さんに賞状など贈る” – Kōbe Shimbun, 3 October 2024

* “丹波市の最高齢 大前さん110歳に　家族らから祝福受ける” – Kōbe Shimbun, 13 May 2025

GALLERY