According To The Telegraph
The world's oldest person, Misao Okawa, died in Japan
on Wednesday, a month after celebrating her 117th
birthday.
The nursing home where she lived in Osaka said she
breathed her last around 7am local time on Tuesday.
On the occasion of her birthday early last month,
Okawa, a mother of three, grandmother of four and
great-grandmother of six, was one of only a handful of
people still alive who had been born in the 19th
century....
Her birth on March 5, 1898 predated the Wright
brothers' first powered human flight by five years, she
was already a teenager when World War I broke out
and in her 70s by the time of the first moon landing.
When she turned 114, she was officially recognised by
Guinness World Records as the oldest woman in the
globe.
Japan, known for the longevity of its people, is home
to the world's oldest man - Sakari Momoi, who
celebrated his 112th birthday in February..
In 2013, life expectancy for women in Japan was 86.61,
the longest in the world followed by Hong Kong
women, according to the health ministry.
For men it was 80.21, the fourth longest, after men in
Hong Kong, Iceland and Switzerland.
The world's oldest person is now believed to be
American Gertrude Weaver, who is reportedly 116 years
old.
1898: Birth in Osaka. Lord Kitchener retakes Sudan in
Battle of Omdurman
Mrs Okawa on March 5 reached the remarkable
milestone of 116 - and attributes her longevity to eating
well and sleeping at least eight hours every night, with
the occasional nap thrown in for good measure.
“Eat and sleep and you will live a long time,” she said in
a message to The Telegraph last year. “You have to
learn to relax.”
Misao Okawa pictured with her older sister, circa 1900
The daughter of a kimono-maker from Japan’s second
city, Mrs Okawa assumed the title of the oldest person
in the world after the death of 116-year-old Jireomon
Kimura in June 2013.
Experts say it is no coincidence that both record-
holders are from Japan, which was home to 54,397
centenarians on the last Respect for the Aged national
holiday in September - including 282 super-
centenarians, who have achieved the ripe old age of
110.
“Mrs Okawa eats three large meals a day and makes
sure that she sleeps eight hours a night,” said
Tomohito Okada, the head of the Kurenai retirement
home where she has lived for the last 18 years of her
life..
1919: she marries Yukio Okawa. The Treaty of
Versailles is signed
“She insists that her favourite meal is sushi,
particularly mackerel on vinegar-steamed rice, and she
has it at least once every month,” he said.
Asked about the happiest moments of a life that has
now spanned three centuries, Mrs. Okawa
unhesitatingly recalls her marriage in 1919 to Yukio
Okawa and the birth of their three children. Her
surviving son and daughter have clearly inherited her
genes and are now aged 94 and 92.
She also had four grandchildren and six great-
grandchildren.
She said the saddest time of her life was the death of
her husband in June 1931 - an almost unthinkable 83
years ago.
The average lifespan for a Japanese woman is now
85.9 years, with women also accounting for 87 percent
of the nation’s centenarians. A Japanese man can
expect to reach 79.6 years old.
2000: she breaks her leg. The world ushers in the new
millennium
Experts put Japanese longevity down to the nation’s
comprehensive healthcare system, the support of the
community, encouragement to remain physically active
until they are quite elderly, a sense of being part of a
family and a healthy diet that has traditionally been
heavy in fish, rice, vegetables and fruit.
Additional research has suggested that people who
were in middle-age during the years of food shortages
during the Second World War have subsequently
enjoyed better long-term health than people who never
had to go without.
But Yasuyuki Gondo, an associate professor at Osaka
University who specialises in geriatric psychology, says
there is much more to longevity than merely a good
diet and advanced medical care
.
“When we surveyed centenarians, we found that the
majority have enjoyed good mental health throughout
their lives and have developed psychological
adaptations to their situations as they have got older,”
he told The Telegraph.
Professor Gondo is one of a number of scholars who
studied Mrs Okawa and other centenarians as they try
to pin down more traits that identify those of us who
will live the longest.
Those studies suggest that people with a strong will,
are outgoing and a sense of curiosity live longer than
average.
Mrs Okawa underlined the determined side of her
character after suffering a fall at the age of 102 in
which she broke her leg. After she returned to the
nursing home from a stay in hospital, the staff found
her doing leg squats as she held on to a hand rail in
the hall.
When asked what she was doing, Mrs Okawa replied
that she was making sure her body did not get out of
shape.
On her birthday, TV crews and national media have
been invited to the nursing home to record the birthday
festivities.
“We will be having a cake, of course,” said Mr Okada.
“But we will only be having three candles, one for each
figure of her 116 years, because that many candles
could be dangerous.”
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