Chiyono Kamono was born in Sakaricho (now part of Ōfunato), Iwate Prefecture, Japan, on 4 September 1911. She was the third daughter among six children born into a farming family. During the Taishō era (1912–26), she relocated to Tokyo and found employment at a beer factory. She married in her twenties, but her husband lost his life in Burma (now Myanmar) during the Pacific War. She endured the Tokyo air raids, shielding her son while being showered with sparks. After the war, she returned to her hometown of Ōfunato. Upon her return, she started farming in order to provide for her eldest son and her niece.

Kamono moved into a nursing home in 2008. She experienced the impact of the Great East Japan Earthquake on March 11, 2011, but managed to avoid the tsunami by seeking refuge on the third floor of the nursing home. At the time, she expressed concerns that “something worse than war had happened.” She was known for her bright and lively personality.

Kamono passed away in Ōfunato, Iwate Prefecture, Japan, at 3:49 pm on 24 January 2022, at the age of 110 years, 142 days.