116-year-old Japanese woman crowned the world's oldest person by Guinness Book of World Records
Joey Garrison
Kane Tanaka wakes up at 6 a.m. each day, likes to study math and other subjects for fun and competes fiercely in the board game Othello.
It's proven to be a pretty good combination for the 116-year-old from Fukuoka, Japan.
Tanaka was named Saturday the new oldest living person in the world by the Guinness Book of World Records.
She was recognized at a ceremony at her nursing home where she was given a commemorative framed certificate and a box of chocolates. She started eating the chocolates immediately, Guinness said, and responded with "100" when asked how many she planned to eat that day.
Tanaka, the youngest of seven children of Kumakichi and Kuma Ota, was born prematurely on Jan. 2, 1903. Theodore Roosevelt was president of the United States and World War I was still a full decade away from changing geopolitics forever.
She married Hideo Tanaka at 19, before they had ever met, following a Japanese norm at the time. The couple went on to have four children and adopt a fifth.
Hideo Tanaka operated a family business that produced sticky rice and Udon noodles. Kane Tanaka took on a greater role in the family business after Hideo began military service in 1937 during the Second Sino-Japanese War. Their oldest son served in World War II and was held captive by the Soviet Union before returning to Japan.
Kane Tanaka now resides in Fukuoka, located in the southwest portion of Japan, across the sea from South Korea.
She's overcome several operations, including one for cataracts and another for colorectal cancer, according to Guinness.
To become the oldest person ever recorded, Kane Tanaka would need to live another six years to surpass the record held by Jeanne Louise Calment of France for the past 22 years. Calment, born Feb. 21, 1875, died in at the age of 122 years and 164 days on Aug. 4, 1997.
Guinness says that the title for oldest living man is "under investigation" after Masazo Nonaka of Japan died Jan. 20 at 113 years and 179 days. The oldest man ever recorded was Jiroemon Kimura of Japan who died in 2013 at 116 years and 54 days.
