Michiko Yamazaki was born in Minamiminowa Village, Kamiina District, Nagano Prefecture, as the second child of a farmer on July 28, 1905.

Her father passed away when she was 19, and then her mother died early, and she took care of her young siblings until she got married.

At the age of 27, she married a farmer from the same village. She had at least two children.

When Michiko was 105, she began using daycare services run by the village social welfare council, and around the age of 108, she entered a special nursing home.

On July 28, 2013, her 108th birthday party was held at the Nursing Home, and she was featured in the local newspaper as the oldest person in Minamiminowa village.

She became the oldest person in Nagano Prefecture after the death of Sotomi Hara on June 23, 2014, and she died in Minamiminowa Village, Nagano Prefecture at the age of 114 years and 95 days on October 31, 2019.

At the time of her death, she was the third-oldest person in Japan behind Kane Tanaka and Shigeyo Nakachi.