Kumamoto Prefecture Archives

LongeviQuest is delighted to announce the age validation of Namie Takaki at 111 years old. She was a Japanese supercentenarian known as the second-oldest living person in Kumamoto Prefecture.

Namie Takaki was born on 11 October 1908 in Tamana, Kumamoto Prefecture, Japan. She heard from her parents that because she was so frail at birth, they thought she would not survive. She was only 100 cm at the age of 7 years old.

Her family moved to Taiwan in 1917 when it was still occupied by Japan because of her father’s job as a police officer. She got her teaching degree in Taiwan where she worked as an elementary school teacher in Taichung. Mrs. Takaki taught Japanese to about 1,000 first and second-graders at that time.

She decided to quit her job after being married to a police officer and had their first daughter. Her husband was arrested as a war criminal after World War II. Since then, Namie and her daughter moved from one evacuation center to another until they returned to Japan in 1946.

In 2016, aged 107.
(Source: Asahi Shimbun)

When her husband passed away in 1976, Namie tried to connect with her former students in Taiwan. However, their communications were shut due to the 1999 Taiwan earthquake. She reconnects again through a letter that she wrote when she was 107. This time, the Taiwanese media picked up their stories and shared their reunion which became a hot topic in Taiwan.

The Taiwanese Consulate General and Taipei Economic and Cultural Affairs Office appreciate Namie’s friendships with her past students which created a bond of friendship between Japan and Taiwan.

Namie Takaki passed away on 28 February 2020 in Tamana, Kumamoto Prefecture, Japan, at the age of 111 years and 140 days.

For more information, please view Namie Takaki’s Directory Profile here.

LongeviQuest is pleased to announce the age validation of Chie Ogata of Japan at age 111 years. She was born in Minamata, Kumamoto Prefecture, Japan on 15 October 1911.

In September 2019, aged 110.
(Source: Kumamoto Nichinichi Shimbun)

Ogata got married at some point and eventually had 10 children. Her husband, Zenkichi, was a carpenter. She ran a farm while serving meals to her husband’s apprentices. According to her fourth daughter, she had lived a healthy life with little reliance on medicines.

She passed away in Minamata on 3 July 2020. At the time of death, she was the oldest living person in Kumamoto Prefecture.

LongeviQuest congratulates Chie Ogata’s family on her posthumous recognition.

For more information, please view Mrs. Ogata’s Directory Profile here.

LongeviQuest is pleased to announce the age validation of Tsurue Furuno of Japan at age 111 years. She was born in Kagawa Prefecture, Japan on 25 August 1907.

On her 111th birthday in 2018.
(Source: Nishinihon Shimbun)

Following the conclusion of World War II, Mrs. Furuno relocated to Amakusa, Kumamoto Prefecture, her husband’s place of birth. There, she pursued a career as a dressmaker specializing in traditional Japanese attire. Her nephew Kazumasa describes her as someone who possesses a laid-back attitude and does not let minor things bother her.

She passed away in Amakusa, Kumamoto Prefecture, Japan, on 8 July 2019. At the time of death, she was the oldest living person in Kumamoto Prefecture.

LongeviQuest congratulates Tsurue Furuno family on her posthumous recognition.

For more information, please view Mrs. Furuno’s Directory Profile here.