Japan Woman Becomes Guinness World Records’ Oldest Person at 116; Announcement Follows Death of 117-year-old Spanish Woman

By Makiko Yanada / Yomiuri Shimbun Correspondent

12:24 JST, August 23, 2024

PARIS — Tomiko Itooka, a 116-year-old woman in Ashiya, Hyogo Prefecture, has become the world’s oldest person, following the death of 117-year-old Maria Branyas Morera of Spain, Guinness World Records said Wednesday.

Itooka was born in May 1908 and resides at a nursing home in Ashiya.

Branyas Morera, who had been considered the world’s oldest person since January 2023, died at a nursing home in Catalonia, in northeastern Spain, on Monday.