BIOGRAPHY

Sawabe was born in the village of Shirikishinai (present-day city of Hakodate), Hokkaido Prefecture, on 17 March 1908. She never experienced any serious illnesses and enjoyed growing vegetables in the fields until she was 105 years old.

Sawabe attributed her long life to eating three proper meals a day, and her favorite foods were sashimi, eel, and rice, which she consumed in large quantities. She also had a habit of eating seven Natsuhaze (Vaccinium oldhamii) fruits a day, which are similar to blueberries and grow near her home.

In March 2018, at the age of 110, she began using a nursing home for short stays and moved there permanently in August 2018. The staff communicated with her by writing.

Sawabe passed away on 17 October 2018, due to respiratory failure, at the age of 110 years, 214 days.

RECOGNITION

In September 2014, at the age of 106, she became the oldest person in Hakodate City. At the time, the mayor visited her home, where she lived with her eldest daughter (85 years old at the time), to celebrate her status as the oldest person in the city and to congratulate her on her longevity.

As of September 2018, she was the sixth-oldest living person in Hokkaido Prefecture.

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 8 July 2024.

ATTRIBUTION

* “函館市内最高齢・110歳澤辺さんに祝品贈呈” – Hakodate Shimbun, 21 September 2018

GALLERY