Tanaka Kane, world's oldest person, turns 119
116-year-old Japanese woman Kane Tanaka celebrates during a ceremony to recognize her as the world's oldest living person and the world's oldest living woman by the Guinness World Records in Fukuoka, Japan, March 9, 2019. (Reuters Photo)


Japanese woman Kane Tanaka, who was honored as the world's oldest living person a few years ago, turned 119 on Sunday.

Tanaka was recognized by the Guinness World Records as the world's oldest living person in 2019 when she was 116 years old.

Residing at a care facility in Fukuoka, southwestern Japan, Tanaka reportedly communicates with staff through her facial expressions and enjoys solving number puzzles, eating chocolate and drinking soda.

Born on Jan. 2, 1903, as the seventh of nine siblings and married at the age of 19, Tanaka saw her husband and son go to the front in the Second Sino-Japanese War in 1937.

Tanaka lived through the Meiji, Taisho, Showa and Heisei eras of the four emperors of post-1867 modern Japanese history.

Before Tanaka, the world's oldest person was Chiyo Miyako, another Japanese woman who died in July 2018 at the age of 117.

According to the Guinness World Records, the all-time record for longest life is held by French woman Jeanne Louise Calment, who died in 1997 at the age of 122.