Japan's oldest person, Chiyo Miyako, has died at age 117, the health ministry said Thursday.
Miyako, a resident of Yokohama, died on Sunday. She was born on May 2, 1901, and became the country's oldest person after Nabi Tajima of Kikai Island in Kagoshima Prefecture died at 117 in April.
Miyako's death makes Fukuoka resident Kane Tanaka, 115, the oldest living person in Japan.
Tanaka, born on Jan. 2, 1903, lives at a nursing home and is in good health. She occasionally plays the board game Othello and takes walks in the facility's hallways, according to the Fukuoka Municipal Government.
The oldest man in Japan is Masazo Nonaka, a 113-year-old resident of Ashoro, Hokkaido, the ministry said. Nonaka, who was born on July 25, 1905, was recognized in April by Guinness World Records as the world's oldest living man.