World's Oldest Person Dies At Age 117

By Bill Chappell / NPR

Published April 1, 2015 at 2:28 AM PDT

This story was published more than 9 years ago.

Misao Okawa, who died at age 117, posed for a photo with her son Hiroshi Okawa, 92, (left) and other family members as they celebrated her birthday last month in Osaka, Japan.

She was born in 1898. And now comes word that Japan's Misao Okawa has died at age 117. She had been the world's oldest person since 2013, according to Guinness World Records.

We reported on Okawa last month, when she celebrated her birthday along wither her family. She was known to eat three big meals each day and sleep eight hours every night, according to the head of the retirement home where she lived. He added that Okawa was particularly fond of both sushi and ramen.

"Okawa was born to the family of a kimono shop owner in Osaka in 1898, the same year the United States annexed the Hawaiian Islands and Pepsi-Cola was launched," reports The Japan Times.

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The AP says that the title of the world's oldest person now belongs to Gertrude Weaver of Arkansas, who is 116, citing the Los Angeles-based Gerontology Research Group, which keeps records of supercentenarians.