CLOSE With more than 160 descendants, the oldest person in the world, Nabi Tajima, has died at 117. Wochit

This Sept. 2015 photo shows Nabi Tajima of Japan. Tajima died at age 117 in a hospital Saturday evening, April 21, 2018, in Kikai in southern Japan, town official Susumu Yoshiyuki confirmed. She had been hospitalized since January. (Photo: Kikai Town/Kyodo News via AP)

The century of Lincoln, Darwin and Van Gogh has quietly passed into history with the death of the world's oldest known person and last survivor of the 19th century.

Nabi Tajima, 117, died in a hospital Saturday in Kikai, Kagoshima Prefecture, Japan's Kyodo News reported. Tajima had been mostly bedridden at a nursing home in recent years. She was hospitalized about a month ago, family members told the news service.

"She passed away as if falling asleep. As she had been a hard worker, I want to tell her 'rest well,' " Tajima's 65-year-old grandson Hiroyuki said.

Tajima was born Aug. 4, 1900. The new oldest person is another Japanese woman, Chiyo Miyako, according to the U.S.-based Gerontology Research Group. Miyako, 116, was born on May 2, 1901.

Determining who can lay claim to the title of world's oldest can be a bit dicey. A chain-smoking Indonesian man known as Sodimejo died last May without ever gaining the moniker, despite a government-issued ID card listing Sodimejo's date of birth as Dec. 31, 1870.

Indonesia didn't start formally recording birth dates until decades later, and thus Sodimejo's claims failed the gerontology litmus test. Acclaimed genetics researcher Jan Vijg was among the non-believers. Vijg, a genetics professor at Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York, compared the claim to someone saying he had met an extraterrestrial.

"I would probably listen politely but not believe a word of it," Vijg told USA TODAY.

Tajima, who became the world's oldest known person with the death of Jamaican Violet Brown on Sept. 15, seems to have paperwork on her side. She was born on Aug. 4, 1900, in Araki, then known as Wan Village, in Kikaijima Island.

She raised seven sons and two daughters, and as of 2017 had more than 160 descendants, including great-great-great-grandchildren, according to the Gerontology Research Group.

Tajima claimed her secret to longevity was eating delicious food and getting plenty of sleep. She enjoyed hand-dancing to the music of a shamisen, a traditional Japanese musical instrument.

Now comes Miyako, who lives south of Tokyo.

"She can eat by herself and spends every day in good health," her family said in a statement. "We, as her family members, are very happy about her longevity."

The gerontology group lists the world’s oldest man as Masazo Nonaka, 112, of Hokkaido, the northernmost of Japan's four major islands. But women — and residents of Japan — dominate the list. The 22 oldest are women, and 13 of the 24 oldest people reside in Japan.

The World Health Organization studied longevity in Japan in 2011. Longevity "is thought to be associated with psychosocial factors such as sense of coherence, social support and social capital," the study found. However, it acknowledged that the actual factors responsible and the extent of their contribution to individual health were not known.

Read or Share this story: https://usat.ly/2qUIim3</s>An official says world's oldest person dies in Japan at age of 117</s>An official says world's oldest person dies in Japan at age of 117

TOKYO (AP) — An official says world's oldest person dies in Japan at age of 117.</s>World's oldest person, Nabi Tajima, dies in Japan at the age of 117

The great-great-great grandmother regarded as the world's oldest person has died in Japan at the age of 117.

An official in the southern Japanese town of Kikai says Nabi Tajima died in a hospital on Saturday night. She had been hospitalised since January.

Ms Tajima was born on August 4, 1900, and reportedly had more than 160 descendants, including great-great-great grandchildren.

Her town of Kikai is in Kagoshima prefecture on Kyushu, the southernmost of Japan's four main islands.

She became the world's oldest person seven months ago after the death of Violet Brown in Jamaica, also at the age of 117.

Guinness World Records certified 112-year-old Masazo Nonaka of northern Japan as the world's oldest man earlier this month, and was planning to recognise Ms Tajima as the world's oldest person.

The US-based Gerontology Research Group says that another Japanese woman, Chiyo Yoshida, is now the world's oldest person in its records. She is due to turn 117 in 10 days.

Ms Tajima's death comes three days after the death of Celino Villanueva Jaramillo, who claimed he was 121 years old.

Mr Jaramillo's ID card stated he was born on July 25, 1896, but he was not recognised as the world's oldest person by Guinness due to a lack of official documentation.

The Chilean lost his birth certificate in a fire that burned his house down 20 years prior.</s>World's oldest person dies in Japan at age of 117

Nabi Tajima died of old age in a hospital Saturday evening in the town of Kikai in southern Japan, town official Susumu Yoshiyuki confirmed. She had been hospitalized since January.

Tajima, born on Aug. 4, 1900, was the last known person born in the 19th century. She raised seven sons and two daughters and reportedly had more than 160 descendants, including great-great-great grandchildren. Her town of Kikai is a small island of about 7,000 people halfway between Okinawa and Kyushu, the southernmost of Japan's four main islands.

She became the world's oldest person seven months ago after the death in September of Violet Brown in Jamaica, also at the age of 117. Video shown on Japanese television showed Tajima moving her hands to the beat of music played on traditional Japanese instruments at a ceremony to mark the achievement.

The U.S.-based Gerontology Research Group says that another Japanese woman, Chiyo Miyako, is now the world's oldest person in its records. Miyako lives south of Tokyo in Kanagawa prefecture, and is due to turn 117 in 10 days.

Guinness World Records certified 112-year-old Masazo Nonaka of northern Japan as the world's oldest man earlier this month, and was planning to recognize Tajima as the world's oldest person.</s>TOKYO: The world's oldest person has died in southern Japan at the age of 117.

An official in the town of Kikai says Nabi Tajima died in a hospital yesterday shortly before 8 pm.

She had been hospitalised since January.

Tajima was born on August 4, 1900, and reportedly had more than 160 descendants, including great-great-great grandchildren.

Her town of Kikai is in Kagoshima prefecture on Kyushu, the southernmost of Japan's four main islands.

She became the world's oldest person seven months ago after the death of Violet Brown in Jamaica, also at the age of 117.

The US-based Gerontology Research Group says that another Japanese woman, Chiyo Yoshida, is now the world's oldest person in its records.

She is 116 years old.</s>Tokyo: The world’s oldest person, a 117-year-old Japanese woman Nabi Tajima, has died of old age in a hospital Saturday evening in the town of Kikai in southern Japan. She had been hospitalized since January.

Tajima was born on Aug. 4, 1900, and reportedly had more than 160 descendants, including great-great-great grandchildren. Her town of Kikai is in Kagoshima prefecture on Kyushu, the southernmost of Japan’s four main islands.

She became the world’s oldest person seven months ago after the death in September of Violet Brown in Jamaica, also at the age of 117. Video shown on Japanese television showed Tajima moving her hands to the beat of music played on traditional Japanese instruments at a ceremony to mark the achievement.

The U.S.-based Gerontology Research Group says another Japanese woman, Chiyo Miyako, is now the world’s oldest person in its records. Yoshida lives south of Tokyo in Kanagawa prefecture, and is due to turn 117 in 10 days.

Guinness World Records certified 112-year-old Masazo Nonaka of northern Japan as the world’s oldest man this month, and was planning to recognize Tajima as the world’s oldest person.</s>The world’s oldest person has died at the age of 117.

Nabi Tajima, of Japan, passed away on Saturday after being hospitalized since January.

Born on August 4, 1900, she was the last known person to be born in the 19th century, as the 20th century began on January 1, 1901. Tajima had seven sons, two daughters, and reportedly more than 160 descendants, including great-great-great grandchildren.

She became the oldest person in the world after Violent Brown, of Jamaica, died last September, also at the age of 117.

According to the Gerontology Research Group, another Japanese woman, named Chiyo Miyako, is now the world’s oldest person. She will turn 117 in early May.

The post World’s oldest person dies at 117 appeared first on 850 WFTL.</s>Nabi Tajima died of old age in a hospital Saturday evening in the town of Kikai in southern Japan, town official Susumu Yoshiyuki confirmed. (Source: Raycom Media)

Nabi Tajima died of old age in a hospital Saturday evening in the town of Kikai in southern Japan, town official Susumu Yoshiyuki confirmed. She had been hospitalized since January.

Tajima, born on Aug. 4, 1900, was the last known person born in the 19th century. She reportedly had more than 160 descendants, including great-great-great grandchildren. Her town of Kikai is in Kagoshima prefecture on Kyushu, the southernmost of Japan's four main islands.

She became the world's oldest person seven months ago after the death in September of Violet Brown in Jamaica, also at the age of 117. Video shown on Japanese television showed Tajima moving her hands to the beat of music played on traditional Japanese instruments at a ceremony to mark the achievement.

The U.S.-based Gerontology Research Group says that another Japanese woman, Chiyo Miyako, is now the world's oldest person in its records. Miyako lives south of Tokyo in Kanagawa prefecture, and is due to turn 117 in 10 days.

Guinness World Records certified 112-year-old Masazo Nonaka of northern Japan as the world's oldest man earlier this month, and was planning to recognize Tajima as the world's oldest person.

Copyright 2018 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.</s>Correction: An earlier version of this story misstated the last name of Chiyo Miyako.

TOKYO (AP) — The world's oldest person has died in southern Japan at the age of 117.

An official in the town of Kikai says Nabi Tajima died in a hospital on Saturday shortly before 8 p.m. She had been hospitalized since January.

Tajima was born on Aug. 4, 1900, and reportedly had more than 160 descendants, including great-great-great grandchildren. Her town of Kikai is in Kagoshima prefecture on Kyushu, the southernmost of Japan's four main islands.

She became the world's oldest person seven months ago after the death of Violet Brown in Jamaica, also at the age of 117. Video shown on Japanese television showed Tajima moving her hands to the beat of music played on traditional Japanese instruments at a ceremony to mark the achievement.

The U.S.-based Gerontology Research Group says that another Japanese woman, Chiyo Miyako, is now the world's oldest person in its records. She is 116 years old.

Guinness World Records certified 112-year-old Masazo Nonaka of northern Japan as the world’s oldest man earlier this month, and was planning to recognize Tajima as the world’s oldest person.

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Nabi Tajima, the world's oldest person, dies at age 117 in southern Japan.