Japan's oldest person dies at 113

TOKYO (AFP) - The oldest person in Japan, whose people are famed for their longevity, has died at age 113 just one week after her record was recognized, her nursing home said Monday.

Shitsu Nakano, who was the fourth oldest person in the world, died Sunday in Ogoori in southern Fukuoka prefecture, said an official at her nursing home. A funeral will be held on Tuesday.

She became the nation's oldest person after Yone Minagawa, who was certified by the Guinness Book of World Records as the world's oldest person, died last week at age 114, also in Fukuoka.

Edna Parker, 114, who lives in the midwestern US state of Indiana, became the world's oldest person after the death of Minagawa, who was less than four months older.

In Japan, the health ministry announced that the country's new oldest person was Tsuneyo Toyonaga, who is 113 years and two months old and lives on the southwestern island of Shikoku.

More than 28,000 Japanese are 100 years or older, up from a mere 1,000 at the start of the 1980s, in a trend attributed to a healthy traditional diet and a high standard of health care.