Kane Tanaka, the world’s oldest verified person, died in Japan at 119 years old.
Japan’s Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare released a public statement announcing Tanaka’s death. She died April 19. She was born on Jan. 2, 1903. She was born before the Wright brothers’ first powered flight and died as the world’s second-oldest person ever, according to Guinness World Records.
Tanaka’s cause of death was unknown, although her family said in a tweet earlier in April that she had been in and out of hospital. She twice survived cancer and lived through two pandemics: the Spanish flu and COVID-19.
Tanaka celebrated her 119th birthday in Japan in January. Tanaka’s family said at the time that she intended to live another year to reach her 120th birthday, further bolstering her feat in the Guinness Book of Records. It began tallying her age in March 2019, when she had turned 116.
Guinness World Records tweeted: “She became the oldest living person in January 2019 at the age of 116 years and 28 days. She is also the second oldest person ever recorded, behind only Jeanne Calment who lived to the age of 122. … The titles of oldest person living and oldest person living (female) are currently being investigated.”
Tanaka eclipsed the Japanese record for years lived when she turned 117 years and 261 days in September 2020. On that occasion, she famously posed for photographers with a peace sign while drinking a Coke (she had an affection for carbonated drinks).
In her lifetime, Tanaka witnessed five Japanese imperial reigns and two world wars. She was born six months before British novelist George Orwell was born.
Tanaka was the seventh of nine siblings and was married when she was 19. She supported her family by running a noodle shop when her husband and eldest son fought in the Second Sino-Japanese War, which began in 1937.
Kane Tanaka cause of death
Japan’s Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare released a public statement announcing Tanaka’s death. She died April 19. She was born on Jan. 2, 1903. She was born before the Wright brothers’ first powered flight and died as the world’s second-oldest person ever, according to Guinness World Records.
The cause of Kane Tanaka death is not yet knowm.
Kane Tanaka Age
Kane Tanaka, born in 1903, smiles as a nursing home celebrates three days after her 117th birthday in Fukuoka, Japan, on Jan. 5, 2020
Kane Tanaka Age is 121
Who is Kane Tanaka Husband
Kane got married to her cousin Hideo Tanaka in 1922. Together, the couple had two daughters and two sons. They also adopted their niece, who was the second daughter of Hideo’s sister.
The eldest daughter of Kane’s died shortly after her birth. Her second daughter passed away at the age of one in the year 1947. Her adopted daughter passed away in 1945, aged 23 due to an unspecified illness. The couple was employed in a store selling shiruko as well as Udon noodles.
Later, her husband was drafted to the military, in which he served from 1937 until 1939. One son of the couple was captured towards the end of World War II, as a military POW, and was detained in Siberia before being released and returning to his home in 1947.
After the World War II, the couple continued working in the store, along with Kane changing his religion into Christianity under the guidance of pastors stationed by the United States military.
After quitting their retail store at the age of 63, Kane traveled to the United States in the 1970s to visit family members who resided in California and Colorado. The death of her husband occurred in 1993, at 90 years old, after seventy years of marriage.
