Japan’s oldest person dies at 112

By Riyaz ul Khaliq

ISTANBUL (AA) – The oldest person in Japan has died at the age of 112, authorities announced on Tuesday.

Authorities in Nara city on the south-central Honshu island’s Nara province said Mikizo Ueda died at the age of 112 last Friday.

Ueda was born on May 11, 1910, making him the oldest living citizen in Japan.

In an interview with Japanese public broadcaster NHK, Ueda said last year in September: “The secret to living a long life is to let things happen.”

The local authorities said that late Ueda had "never been seriously ill, and has often spent his time moving his body and singing songs.”

Early this year in April, the world’s “oldest” person living in Japan died at the age of 119. Kane Tanaka died in Fukuoka, in southwestern Japan, where she lived.

Born on Jan. 2, 1903, Tanaka turned 119 early this year. She was born a year before the Russo-Japanese War broke.