# Kane Tanaka turns 119
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kane-tanaka-turns-119/957044
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
**Created:** [January 1, 2022, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kane-tanaka-turns-119/957044 "2022-01-01T21:23:07Z")
**Posts on this page:** 11
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@kk\_fusion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kk_fusion)
#### Post date: [January 1, 2022, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kane-tanaka-turns-119/957044/1 "2022-01-01T21:23:08Z")
It’s Sunday now in Japan so here we go.
She’s the third person ever to verifiably reach that age (or 118 for that matter).
Happy birthday to Mrs. Tanaka. Will she beat Sarah Knauss to become the second most longest-lived person ever?
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### Author:  [@dolphinboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dolphinboy)
#### Post date: [January 2, 2022, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kane-tanaka-turns-119/957044/2 "2022-01-02T03:02:57Z")
Congratulations to Kane. Has any official Japanese agency verified her age? Did they have certifiable birth certificates in Japan back in 1903? I’m not suggesting they didn’t, I was just curious how this works.
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### Author:  [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)
#### Post date: [January 2, 2022, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kane-tanaka-turns-119/957044/3 "2022-01-02T03:07:25Z")
Congratulations.
Speaking for myself though, this sounds like my worst nightmare.
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### Author:  [@kk\_fusion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kk_fusion)
#### Post date: [January 2, 2022, 9:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kane-tanaka-turns-119/957044/4 "2022-01-02T09:39:26Z")
[This book](https://www.demogr.mpg.de/en/publications_databases_6118/publications_1904/monographs/supercentenarians_3866) has a paper on the verification process in Japan. Looks like it’s indeed up to Western standards.
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### Author:  [@dolphinboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dolphinboy)
#### Post date: [January 2, 2022, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kane-tanaka-turns-119/957044/5 "2022-01-02T17:22:07Z")
Then all I can do is wish her a long(er) life.
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### Author:  [@kk\_fusion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kk_fusion)
#### Post date: [April 10, 2022, 5:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kane-tanaka-turns-119/957044/6 "2022-04-10T05:40:54Z")
Bump.
At 119 years, 98 days, she’s now in second place on the all-time list.
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### Author:  [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)
#### Post date: [April 10, 2022, 5:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kane-tanaka-turns-119/957044/7 "2022-04-10T05:59:56Z")
I always knew sushi was good for you!
I bet she can really put away the saki, too. 😉
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### Author:  [@UltraVires](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UltraVires)
#### Post date: [April 10, 2022, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kane-tanaka-turns-119/957044/8 "2022-04-10T13:30:44Z")
Is it, though? Wasn’t there a guy who was declared to be the world’s oldest person at one time, verified by Guinness but then it was found out that he used his older brother’s name?
Upon a google search, yes: [Shigechiyo Izumi - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shigechiyo_Izumi)
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### Author:  [@kk\_fusion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kk_fusion)
#### Post date: [April 10, 2022, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kane-tanaka-turns-119/957044/9 "2022-04-10T17:27:39Z")
It is now. In fact, the Gerontology Research Group (now the only source for the GWR) was founded partially in response to cases like Izumi’s. The only non-Western country they’ve accepted claims from is Japan, and only those born after the introduction of the [Koseki](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Koseki) register in 1872 (Izumi’s claimed DOB was 1865).
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### Author:  [@Seanette](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Seanette)
#### Post date: [May 22, 2022, 11:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kane-tanaka-turns-119/957044/10 "2022-05-22T11:04:00Z")
Bumping to update. Mrs. Tanaka passed on 22 April 2022, at the age of 119 years 107 days.
The oldest living person is now Lucile Randon (aka Soeur Andre), a nun from France, born 11 Feb 1904.
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### Author:  [@gkster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gkster)
#### Post date: [May 23, 2022, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kane-tanaka-turns-119/957044/11 "2022-05-23T01:43:38Z")
Thread from a month ago about Tanaka’s passing here:
> [@World's oldest person dies (Kane Tanaka, age 119)](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worlds-oldest-person-dies-kane-tanaka-age-119/963406):
>
> World’s oldest living human (by some margin, I think), Japan’s Kane Tanaka, shuffled off her mortal coil a couple of days ago.