World's oldest living person breaks Japan's record for the oldest person

Kane Tanaka became Japan's oldest person on Saturday, reaching the incredible age of 117 years and 261 days old.

Tanaka was recorded in March 2019 by the Guinness Book of Records as the oldest living person in the world.

She beat the previous record-holder Nabi Tajima, another Japanese woman, who died in April two years ago at 117 years and 260 days old.

Living past 100 is not a new phenomenon these days, according to government figures, 80,450 people in Japan are at least a century old. This is a stark contrast to the first recordings made in 1963 when there were just 153 people in Japan aged 100 or over.

Kane Tanaka's grandson, Eiji, told a Japanese news agency that the family were "happy and proud of the new record", adding that his grandmother was healthy and enjoying life despite limitations of family visits due to the pandemic.