The World’s oldest person celebrated her 119th birthday on Sunday according to the woman’s great-granddaughter.
“Great achievement. (Kane Tanaka) reached 119 years of age,” Junko tweeted, with a photograph of her great-grandmother. “I hope you’ll continue to live life cheerfully and to the fullest.”
Born in 1903 in Japan, Tanaka married a rice shop owner at the age of 19, and worked in the family store until she was 103. She has lived through her fair share of historical events, including two world wars and the 1918 Spanish flu, and 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 said in an interview last year.
Kane Tanake was recognized by the Guinness Book of Records in 2019 as the world’s oldest living person and was set to carry the flame torch at the Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympics.
