Chiyo Miyako

Miyako at the age of 114.

**Chiyo Miyako** (Japanese: **都 千代**; 2 May 1901 – 22 July 2018) was a Japanese supercentenarian who was recognized as the world's oldest living person by the Guinness World Records, and held the title until her own death at the age of 117 years, 81 days. Her age was also validated by the Gerontology Research Group.

## Biography

### Early life

Chiyo Miyako was born in Yuasa, Wakayama Prefecture, Japan, on 2 May 1901. She was born as the fourth of five children, but she grew up as a first child of her parents because her older siblings all died at early ages. She had one younger brother. When she was younger, she enjoyed her lessons at school, except for physical education. She learned calligraphy during her childhood, and continued creating calligraphic works even as a supercentenarian. After finishing elementary school, she attended a school for girls in Wakayama Prefecture. After graduating from the girls’ school, she pursued further education at the telegraph school in Osaka. While she was studying in Osaka, she met a man named Katsuji Miyako in her apartment building. He was a student at Kyoto University. Because of his status as a student, the couple had a family wedding without announcing their marriage (however, when interviewed in 2002, she said how the wedding was arranged by her parents, and that she and her husband were not romantically attracted to each other at the beginning of their marriage). According to her: “*It was a good match and we had a wonderful marital life.*”

### Married life and World War II

After marrying, she started working as an operator at the Central Telecommunications Bureau located in Osaka. She was the only female employee in her branch. Meanwhile, her husband was employed by the Ministry of Railways, and had to undertake many overseas business trips to perform inspections. The longest separation the couple experienced was when her husband was overseas for 2 years as part of his education. Soon after he returned to Japan, the couple had their first child: a son (Junichi) was born in 1922, and a daughter (Toshiko) was born in 1927. Because of her husband's job, the family relocated a few times. She claimed how Beijing (China) was the most memorable place for her. One year after moving to Beijing, World War II ended, and the family had to leave the city immediately. Although they had only a small amount of baggage, it was stolen, and they lost all of their belongings, including their clothes, their jewelry, and their family photos. Her husband, who was fluent in English and Chinese, succeeded in negotiating for the family passage on a ship going back to Japan. Recalling this trip, she said, “*I was so afraid that I would not return to Japan until I saw the land of Japan.*” She also remembered that on the ship “*the food was dried cod and water. That was it. … Soon after we landed in Japan, we had a bowl of rice, miso soup and pickles. It was delicious. I still remember that taste.*” Because of this experience, she has lost all of the photos and other important forms of evidence that could confirm her earlier life events. The family started their new life in Tokyo. The housing provided by the Ministry of Railways had vegetable gardens. She and other residents of the housing estate cultivated vegetables, such as potatoes and eggplants, to supplement their food supplies. However, people outside of the estate often stole these vegetables because people were struggling to survive under severe food shortages.

Her husband passed away in 1951 at the age of 55. Along with her children, she moved into her parents’ home. Her son went to Tokyo University, and later received his Ph.D. from the University of Michigan. He became a professor at Toyo University, but passed away at the age of 52 in 1974. Her daughter died in 1984 at the age of 57.

### Later life

After the loss of her two children, she lived with one of her grandchildren. She eventually decided to move into a nursing facility, but then came home after failing to adapt to the environment. At the age of 97, she moved to a nursing home again. She participated in the Tokyo centenarian study on 8 July 2001, when she was 100 years old. During this time, she did not need care from others, despite living in a nursing home. She was able to move around well with a cane and enjoyed writing haiku poetry and doing calligraphy. She also participated in an intelligence assessment. Compared to other 100-year-old participants, her score was very high.

On 10 June 2006, she participated in the Japanese semi-supercentenarian study. At that time, she was living in the same nursing home. Although many residents of her nursing home had developed dementia, she was able to build good relationships with other residents. She moved to a nursing home in Yokohama City prior to 2011. She fell ill at the age of 114.

Miyako lost both of her legs owing to arteriosclerosis obliterans, a vascular disease that resulted from a lack of movement. The amputation of her right leg took place earlier on 17 May 2015, when she was aged 114 years, 15 days. She was later recognized by the GWR as the oldest surgery patient. She underwent an amputation of her left leg at the Jikei University School of Medicine Hospital on 8 May 2017, at the age of 116 years 6 days.

Miyako died in Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan, on 22 July 2018, at the age of 117 years, 81 days.

## Longevity records

Her age was verified by the MHLW, Naoto Miyako, Stefan Maglov and Anri Kusaku, and validated by the GRG on 3 August 2015, at the age of 114.

On 5 December 2015, she became the oldest living person in Kanagawa Prefecture, following the death of 114-year-old Kiyoko Ishiguro. On 15 December 2017, following the death of Ana Vela-Rubio of Spain, she became the last living person born in 1901. Following the death of Nabi Tajima on 21 April 2018, she became the oldest living person in Japan and the world.

## References

* Oldest surgery patient Guinness World Records
* Oldest person title officially achieved by 117-year-old Chiyo Miyako before her death Guinness World Records, 26 July 2018
* Age Verification of Three Japanese Supercentenarians Who Reached Age 115 Exceptional Lifespans pp 297–316, 2021