The World’s Oldest Person Is Totally Chill About Turning 117
The World’s Oldest Person Is Totally Chill About Turning 117
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Misao Okawa, the world's oldest Japanese woman poses for a photo with her great-grandchild Himaki and grandchild Takako Okawa on her 117th birthday celebration at Kurenai Nursing Home on March 4, 2015 in Osaka, Japan.Buddhika Weerasinghe—Getty Images
The world’s oldest person has lived through two World Wars and the invention of the first airplane, but it doesn’t seem like a long time to Misao Okawa.
“It seemed rather short,” Okawa said on Wednesday, the day before her 117th birthday, the Associated Press reports. When Okawa was asked about the secret to her longevity, she said nonchalantly, “I wonder about that too.”
Okawa was born in Osaka on March 5, 1898 and was recognized as the world’s oldest person by Guinness World Records in 2013. She has slowed down in recent months but still eats well and is healthy, according to her Osaka nursing home.
She married her husband, Yukio, in 1919, and has three children, four grandchildren and six great-grandchildren. Her husband died in 1931.
Japan has more than 58,000 centenarians, more than any other country in the world.
Misao Okawa, the world's oldest living person, looks on her 116th birthday celebration at Kurenai Nursing Home on March 5, 2014 in Osaka, Japan. Okawa, born in Tenma, Osaka, on March 5, 1898 to a family of Kimono merchants, married in 1919 and had three children, of which a daughter and a son are still alive, and has four grandchildren and six great-grandchildren. Okawa is currently 116 years old.Buddhika Weerasinghe—Getty ImagesGertrude Weaver holds a flower given to her a day before her 116th birthday, at Silver Oaks Health and Rehabilitation Center in Camden, Ark., July 3, 2014. The Gerontology Research Group says Weaver is the oldest person in the United States and second-oldest person in the world.Danny Johnston—APJeralean Talley, photographed at 113, sits in her favorite chair in the living room of her home in Inkster, Mich. on April 2, 2013. She is now 115. Kimberly P. Mitchell—APSusannah Mushatt Jones in her home in Brooklyn on June 11, 2014, a few weeks before her 115th birthday.Joseph C. Lin for TIMEBernice Madigan, photographed on the cusp of her 110th birthday, is now 115.Dina Rudick—Boston Globe/Getty ImagesEmma Morano-Martinuzzi was born on Nov. 29, 1899 and is 114 years old.Danilo DonadioAntonia Gerena Rivera was born on May 19, 1900 and is now 114 years old.Gerontology Research GroupEthel Lang celebrates her birthday with her great great grandchildren on Sept. 21, 1987 in the Bear Creek Nursing Home. Lang was born on May 27, 1900, and is now 114.John Preito—Denver Post/Getty ImagesNabi Tajima was born on Aug. 4, 1900 and is 114 years old.Kikai NewsletterBorn September 8, 1900, Blanche Arrington Cobb is photographed celebrating her 110th birthday in 2010. Now 113, she has lived with her daughter on the Northside in Jacksonville, FL.Jon M. Fletcher—The Florida Times-UnionAnna Stoehr is photographed blowing out the 112 candles on her birthday cake with the help of her great grandchildren and about 180 guests on Oct. 14, 2012 in Millville, Minn. She is now 113.Richard Tsong—APGoldie Steinberg was born on Oct. 30, 1900, and is 113 years old.Market WireMerle Barwis, photographed at 111 years old, enjoys a birthday beer with family in Victoria, B.C. December 23, 2011. She is now 113.Lyle StaffordL—Times Colonist
