Kane Tanaka, the world’s oldest living person, turned 119 years old on Sunday, according to a Twitter post published by her great-granddaughter, Junko Tanaka.”Great achievement. (Kane Tanaka) reached 119 years of age,” Junko tweeted, with a photograph of her great-grandmother, whom she saw in December. “I hope you’ll continue to live life cheerfully and to the fullest.”
【大快挙】119歳到達🎉
— 田中カ子 (@tanakakane0102) January 1, 2022
無事に119歳を迎えることができました！
サラ・ナウスさん以来22年ぶりの119歳到達です🎊
最新のカ子さんの写真です📸
12月に親戚が会いに行った時のものです。
たくさんの方々に支えられてここまでくることが出来ました🙌
これからも楽しく明るく元気に過ごしてほしいです😊 pic.twitter.com/K38jXDTIQ3
Born in 1903, Tanaka married a rice shop owner at the age of 19, and worked in the family store until she was 103.
Tanaka has lived through a multitude of historical events, surviving two world wars and the 1918 Spanish flu. Her life has spanned 49 Summer and Winter Olympic Games.”I don’t remember her talking much about the past … She’s very forward thinking — she really enjoys living in the present,” Tanaka’s grandson, Eiji Tanaka, told CNN last year.
Tanaka is living in a nursing home in Fukuoka prefecture. Her family said keeps her mind and body engaged by doing math, and remaining curious.
The Guinness Book of World Records recognized her as the world’s oldest living person in 2019.