| Toyo Endo | |
 | |
| Birth: | 13 February 1892 Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan |
| Death: | 3 January 2005 Shizuoka City, Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan |
| Age: | 112 years, 325 days |
| Country: |  JPN
|
| Validated | |
Toyo (or Yutaka?) Endo, [Japanese: 遠藤豊] (13 February 1892 – 3 January 2005) was a Japanese supercentenarian whose age is validated by the Gerontology Research Group (GRG).
Biography[]
Toyo Endo was born in Gotemba, Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan, on 13 February 1892. She went to school in Tokyo; at the time, it was rare for a girl to attend school away from home. She then attended a dressmaking college; due to the lack of electricity in her home village, she first became aware of the telephone by witnessing the daughter of the family she boarded with talking to "a curious black machine that had a deep voice".
When Endo returned to Gotemba to teach at the primary school, her father was one of the first to receive a telephone. The principal of the school asked Endo, then aged 21, to marry him; however, her father was initially reluctant. The couple then taught in the village of Inno; they built a school and a library despite the inhabitants' initial lack of interest in education, and in eight years, the village became notable for its school system. The minister of education gave Endo and her husband a special commendation, and by the time of Endo's death, those aged in at least their 70s still remembered her and her husband's educational achievements.
Endo gave birth to six children, all of whom were still alive at the time of her death. She spent her later years living with the family of one of her sons in Shizuoka city, and her lifestyle was a bridge between traditional Japanese and modern Western.
Endo's claim was verified by Ken Matsuoka and validated by the GRG on 30 September 2002. She passed away on 3 January 2005 at the age of 112 years, 325 days. She was the oldest known person in Shizuoka Prefecture at the time of her death. Additionally, she and French supercentenarian Camille Loiseau were the oldest people to share a birthday, and were even recognised by Guinness World Records in the 2010 edition.
References[]
- Table A – Verified Supercentenarians Gerontology Research Group
- 1892 Gallery Gerontology Research Group
- Deaths for 2005 (in Chronological Order) Gerontology Research Group
- Earth's Elders: The Wisdom of the World's Oldest People, by Jerry Friedman