Kane Tanaka


Kane Tanaka is a Japanese supercentenarian who, at age, is the world's oldest verified living person, and the sixth verified oldest person in recorded history and second oldest verified Japanese person ever behind Nabi Tajima.

Biography

Kane Tanaka was born Kane Ota on 2 January 1903, the seventh child to Kumakichi and Kuma Ota, in the village of Wajiro, on the southern island of Kyushu. Born in the waning years of the Meiji era, Tanaka was premature and raised on breast milk from nurses. She married Hideo Tanaka in 1922; they had four biological children and adopted a fifth child. They worked in a store selling shiruko and udon noodles. After her husband and her son died during World War II, Tanaka continued working in the store, and retired at 63. In the 1970s, she visited the United States, where she has several nieces and nephews.
At age 103, Tanaka was diagnosed with colon cancer. When she was 107, her son wrote a book about her life and longevity: In Good and Bad Times, 107 Years Old. She was interviewed by KBC in September 2017 when she was 114.
As of 2018, Tanaka lived in a hospital in Higashi-ku, Fukuoka. She was still in good health, played Othello, and took short walks in the facility's hallways. Her hobbies include calligraphy and calculations. She credits family, sleep, and hope for her longevity. She said she would like to live to the age of 120.
Tanaka has a strong appetite and likes sweets; she drinks three cans a day of canned coffee, sodas, and various nutritional drinks.
On 9 March 2019, Guinness World Records named her the world's oldest living person.