The number of living people who witnessed the 19th century has dwindled to four, after Misao Okawa, the world’s oldest person, died in Japan at the age of 117.

She was born to a Japanese kimono shop owner in 1898, and went on to outlive Canakkale, Hiroshima, the break up of the Soviet Union and the formation of modern Turkey.

On Wednesday, she died at the age of 117 in a nursing home in Osaka, her carers told the Kyodo news agency. Misao Okawa was the world’s oldest living person.

“Eating delicious things is a key to my longevity,” Okawa, who loved ramen noodles, beef stew, hashed beef and rice, has claimed.

She further attributed her longevity to at least eight hours of sleep a night.

In Feb 2013, she was recognized by Guinness as the world’s oldest living woman, and assumed the mantle of oldest living person in June that year when fellow countryman Jiroemon Kimura died at the age of 116.

Okawa ate cake to celebrate her 117th birthday in March, nursing home officials said, but lost her appetite some 10 days ago and died in her sleep while being watched over by relatives and nursing home officials.

Tomohito Okada, the acting president of the nursing home, told Kyodo Wednesday that her death left him feeling “lonely as I have lived with her since her entry here in 1997.”

“I thank her for teaching various experiences to me,” he added. Okawa was succeeded as Japan’s oldest person Wednesday by a 115-year-old woman, according to the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare. (Adandolu Agency)

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