The world's oldest person, a Japanese woman named Misao Okawa, died in a nursing home on Wednesday. She was 117.
The Guinness World Records had recognized Okawa as the world's oldest living woman in
February 2013, The Asahi Shimbun reported. In June 2013, the world's oldest living person, Jiroemon Kimura, of Kyoto Prefecture, died at age 116, giving Okawa the that title as well.
Okawa was born on March 5, 1898, to a family that was involved in the
clothing business, according to NBC News. She got married at 21, and went on to have three children, three grandchildren, and six great grandchildren.
Okawa celebrated her 117th birthday March 5 with her 92-year-old son and a friend while the media asked her questions. When asked if her lifetime felt long, Okawa responded, "It was short."
"She insists that her favorite meal is sushi, particularly mackerel on vinegar-steamed rice, and she has it at least once every month," Tomohito Okada, the head of the Kurenai retirement home where Okawa lives, said at the time of her birthday, according to Guinness World Records.
Okawa's nursing home in Higashi-Sumiyoshi Ward, Osaka, told The Asahi Shimbun that she would have a private funeral ceremony.
Many passed along their condolences on social media.
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