The oldest woman in the world, Japan’s Misao Okawa, celebrated her birthday today. the 117-year-old insists living this long is really no big deal.
Born on 5 th March 1898 in Tenma, she has previously said the key to a long life is eating sushi and getting at least eight hours sleep a night.
Mrs Okawa took the title of world’s oldest living person in June 2013 following the death of Jiroemon Kimura – also from Japan – who passed away at the age of 116.
As well holding the Guinness World Records title for oldest living person, Misao Okawa also belongs to an elite group – The super-centenarians. To qualify for membership to this exclusive club, there is just one criterion: being at least 110 years old. Reaching this age is an exceptional achievement, especially given the average life span for women in Japan is just under 85.9 years; outliving the national average by nearly 30 years is an remarkable feat.
Misao-san married in 1919; her husband, Yukio, ran his own business in Kobe and together they had three children – two daughters and a son. After the passing of her husband in June 1931, she moved back to Osaka where she still resides, surrounded by her children, 4 grandchildren and 6 great grandchildren.
The oldest person ever to have lived is also female, Jeanne Calment of France, who lived to 122 years and 164 days.