The Guinness World Records said Saturday that a 116-year-old Japanese woman who still enjoys studying math and playing board games was recognized as the oldest person in the world. Kane Tanaka was born on January 2, 1903, the year in which, according to Guinness, the Wright brothers launched the first powered flight. Tanaka’s recognition was celebrated by City Mayor Soichiro Takashima and other well-wishers at the nursing home where she lives in Fukuoka in western Japan.
Asked what moment she was the most happy in life, she said: “Now.”
She married Hideo Tanaka in 1922, giving birth to four kids and adopting a fifth.
Kane normally wakes each morning at 6 am and passes the evenings by studying mathematics and practicing calligraphy.
“One of Kane’s favourite pastimes is a game of Othello and she’s become an expert at the classic board game, often beating rest-home staff,” Guinness said.
Japan has one of the world’s highest life expectancies and has been home to several people recognized as among the oldest humans to have ever lived.
The list includes Jiroemon Kimura, the longest-living man on record, who died soon after his 116th birthday in June 2013.
The oldest verified human ever — Jeanne Louise Calment of France — died in 1997 at the age of 122, according to Guinness.