World's oldest person dies at age 114
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Mitoyo Kawate died Thursday at 114, just two weeks after becoming the world's oldest person.
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TOKYO, Japan (AP) -- A 114-year-old Japanese woman who just weeks ago assumed the title of the world's oldest person died Thursday, a Hiroshima official said.
Mitoyo Kawate, who was born May 15, 1889, died of pneumonia, said Hiroshima city spokesman Masatoshi Yamada.
London-based Guinness World Records recognized Kawate as the oldest person on October 31, after Kamato Hongo, also from Japan, died at age 116.
The oldest person is now Charlotte Benkner, of North Lima, Ohio, born November 16, 1889, the records organization said.
Kawate, who had four children, was a farmer in Hiroshima until she was 100 years old, Yamada said.
She had a weakness for custard cakes and liked to sing, a caretaker said earlier this month. Kawate lived in a nursing home for the past 10 years and her condition had weakened over the past two years.
She is survived by a son and a daughter, but details about grandchildren or other relatives were not immediately available.
Life expectancy in Japan -- 85.23 years for women and 78.32 for men in 2002 -- is the longest in the world. The explanation, experts say, is partly the traditional Japanese diet, which is low in fatty foods.
Japan has lost three world-record holders for longevity in recent months. The world's former oldest man, 114-year-old Yukichi Chuganji, died September 29.
According to Guinness, the world's oldest person with an authenticated birth record was Frenchwoman Jeanne Calment, who died in 1997 at age 122.
The family of an Albanian woman, Hava Rexha, said to be 123 years old, also claimed the title of world's oldest person and tried to get Guinness to recognize her as such, but she died earlier this month.
Rexha was said to have been born August 14, 1880, but did not receive a birth certificate until 1946. She lived south of Albania's capital of Tirana and died last weekend.
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