Kane Tanaka was born on Jan. 2, 1903, the year Wilbur and Orville Wright made the world's first successful flight of powered aircraft and a year before the outbreak of the Russo-Japanese War.
Her life spanned several Japanese imperial eras -- Meiji, Taisho, Showa, Heisei and Reiwa.
She was recognized by Guinness World Records as the world's oldest person in March 2019, at the age of 116. In addition, she became the oldest person ever on record in Japan after turning 117 years, 261 days old in September 2020.
More about: Japan
