A Japanese woman considered as the world's oldest person has died. She was 119 years old.
Kane Tanaka, who was born January 2, 1903, died April 19 at a hospital in western Japan, according to an official announcement by the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare. Her family confirmed Tanaka's passing on Twitter Monday morning.
"Thank you to everyone who supported us," the tweet said. "When it calms down, I will update it again."
Guinness World Records also issued a statement, saying it was "saddened" to hear of Tanaka's death.
A week before she died, Tanaka's family wrote on Twitter that she had recently been "hospitalized and discharged repeatedly."
A cause of death was not released.
Tanaka was born January 2, 1903, the same year the Wright brothers became the first to achieve powered flight. She was officially confirmed as the world's oldest person living in March 2019, when she was 116 years 66 days old.
The supercentenarian celebrated her 119th birthday in January. In a statement posted by her family, Tanaka said she "was able to come this far with the support of many people. I hope you will continue to have fun, [and be] cheerful and energetic."
Tanaka had been living at a rest home in Fukuoka, where she loved playing board games and solving math problems, according to Guinness. She was also known to have a sweet tooth for soda and chocolate.
She twice survived cancer and lived through a multitude of historical events, surviving two world wars and the 1918 Spanish flu, as well as the Covid-19 pandemic, CNN reported.
Tanaka was just a few years away from becoming the oldest woman ever, a title which still belongs to Jeanne Louise Calment, of France, who died in 1997 at 122-years-old.
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