Misao Okawa (大川 ミサヲ Ōkawa Misao, sometimes romanized as Misawo Okawa; March 5, 1898 – April 1, 2015) was a Japanese supercentenarian woman who was the world's oldest living person from the death of Jiroemon Kimura on June 12, 2013 until her own death on April 1, 2015.

Okawa is the verified oldest Japanese person ever, the oldest person ever born in Asia, and the fifth oldest verified person ever recorded. Okawa was the 30th person verified to have reached age 115, the tenth verified person to reach the age of 116 and the fifth verified person to reach the age of 117. She was also the last living Japanese person to have been born in the 1800s.

Okawa died on April 1, 2015, less than a month after her 117th birthday.

Biography

Okawa was born on March 5, 1898, the fourth daughter of a draper in the Tenma district (present-day Kita-ku) of Osaka. From 1997, she lived at a nursing home in Higashisumiyoshi-ku, Osaka. She married Yukio Okawa in 1919 and had three children (two daughters and one son), of whom her son, Hiroshi, and daughter Shizuyo survived her. Her husband died on 20 June 1931. She had four grandchildren and six great-grandchildren. She was able to walk until she was 110, when she began using a wheelchair to prevent falls. She could, however, propel herself using her wheelchair.

Okawa died at her nursing home residence in Higashisumiyoshi-ku, Osaka, Japan at 6:58 a.m. on April 1, 2015.

Longevity

Okawa was the world's oldest living woman since the death of 115-year-old Japanese woman Koto Okubo on January 12, 2013. On February 27, 2013, a few days before her 115th birthday, she was officially recognized by Guinness World Records as the oldest living woman in the world and was presented with a certificate at her nursing home in Osaka.

Okawa said that sushi and sleep were the reasons why she lived so long. On her 117th birthday, she said that her life seemed short. When asked about the secret of her longevity, she replied, jokingly, "I wonder about that too."