World’s oldest woman dies aged 119 in Japan
STORY: Kane Tanaka, born in 1903, the year of the Wright Brothers' first controlled flight of their motor-driven airplane, was confirmed by Guinness World Records in 2019 as the oldest living person.
Tanaka died at a hospital in Fukuoka city, western Japan, on April 19, NHK said, without citing the cause of death. During her life, she had been partial to chocolate and fizzy drinks, NHK said.
Japan has a dwindling and rapidly aging population. As of last September, the country had 86,510 centenarians, and nine out of every 10 were women.
The current oldest woman is believed to be a 118 year-old French nun by the name of Lucile Randon.
