Japan’s oldest citizen passes away at 116 in Osaka

DIMAPUR — The oldest person in Japan, Fusa Tatsumi, passed away in Kashiwara, Osaka prefecture, on Tuesday, succumbing to old age at the age of 116. Born on April 25, 1907, Tatsumi had recently been residing in a nursing home in Kashiwara, spending most of her days in bed, according to Kyodo News.

In April 2022, Tatsumi became the oldest living person in Japan after the death of a 119-year-old woman in Fukuoka, as reported by the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare.

Originally from Yao City, Osaka Prefecture, Tatsumi was the fifth of six siblings. After completing elementary school, she pursued tea ceremonies, flower arrangements, and Okoto (a classical Japanese musical instrument), earning a diploma. At 32, she got married and moved to Kashiwara City, Osaka Prefecture, where she raised her eldest daughter in 1941 and her eldest son in 1947.

Tatsumi actively worked in a family orchard, cultivating peaches, plums, and grapes, until her husband’s death around the age of 55. Her family credits her longevity to the physical labour involved in carrying baskets of harvested fruits on her back.

Apart from a broken femur sustained in her 70s when she fell in her flowerbed while tending to chrysanthemum flowers, a hobby she enjoyed, Tatsumi remained remarkably healthy. She continued to live at home with her family until just before turning 107, after which she resided in a nursing home in Kashiwara, where she eventually passed away.

As of January 2023, Maria Branyas Morera holds the title of the world’s oldest living woman, residing in Spain at the age of 116. According to the Guinness World Records, she was born on March 4, 1907.