Mina Kitagawa | |
Kitagawa in September 2020 at the age of 114 | |
Birth: | 3 November 1905 Echigawa (now Aisho), Shiga, Japan |
Death: | 19 December 2020 Hikone, Shiga, Japan |
Age: | 115 years, 46 days |
Country: | JPN |
Validated |
Mina Kitagawa [Japanese: 北川みな] (3 November 1905 – 19 December 2020) was a Japanese supercentenarian who was the third-oldest living person in Japan and the ninth-oldest living person in the world whose age has been validated by the Gerontology Research Group (GRG).
Biography[]
Early Life[]
Mina Kitagawa was born in Echigawa (now Aisho), Shiga prefecture, Japan on 3 November 1905. Her father was a farmer, and her husband worked for Japanese National Railways. They moved from one place to another due to his job, before eventually settling in Hikone, Shiga, where they rented about 2,500 square meters of land to grow rice and vegetables.
Later Life[]
Kitagawa continued to work as a farmer until she was 100 years old. In 2017, she moved in to a nursing home in Hikone, Shiga. She reportedly enjoyed knitting and handcrafts, and her favourite food was beef. Kitagawa died on 19 December 2020 at the age of 115 years, 46 days.
At the time of her death she was the ninth oldest living person in the world after Kane Tanaka, Lucile Randon, Francisca Celsa dos Santos, Jeanne Bot, Shigeyo Nakachi, Antonia da Santa Cruz, Hester Ford, and Iris Westman. The 46 days that Kitagawa was 115 was the first time ever known in history where nine people age 115+ were alive at the same time.
Longevity[]
Kitagawa was the oldest living person in Shiga Prefecture since the death of 111 year old Shige Kitagawa on 13 September 2014. She has held the title of oldest-living person in the Shiga prefecture for 6 years and 97 days. Following the death of Shin Matsushita on 27 August 2019, she became the third-oldest living person in Japan (behind Kane Tanaka and Shigeyo Nakachi).
On 15 February 2019, Kitagawa became the oldest person ever documented from Shiga Prefecture after breaking the previous record of 113 years, 103 days set by Niwa Kawamoto in 1976.
At the time of her death on 19 December 2020 at the age of 115 years, 46 days, Kitagawa was one of the top-60 oldest people of all-time whose age has been validated by the GRG. She was also the oldest validated person to die in 2020.
Gallery[]
References[]
- World Supercentenarian Rankings List Gerontology Research Group
- 滋賀県内最高齢男性が死去、106歳 Kyoto Shimbun (deadlink)
- 令和パーティー Sazanamien, May 2019
- 県内最高齢113歳の北川みなさん、好物は牛肉 大久保・彦根市長「これからもお元気で」 /滋賀 Mainichi, 16 September 2019
- 県内最高齢113歳女性長寿祝う NHK, 18 September 2019 (via The Wayback Machine)
- 滋賀県最高齢の女性が115歳で死去 Kyoto Shimbun, 20 December 2020