Japanese woman turns 117-years-old, extends record as world's oldest person

Kane Tanaka, a 116-year-old Japanese woman, gestures after receiving a Guinness World Records certificate, back, at a nursing home where she lives in Fukuoka, southwestern Japan, Saturday, March 9, 2019. Tanaka who loves playing the board game Othello was honored Saturday as the world's oldest living person by Guinness World Records. (Takuto Kaneko/Kyodo News via AP)

Kane Tanaka has extended her record as the world's oldest person by celebrating her 117th birthday at a nursing home in Fukuoka in southern Japan.

Ms Tanaka marked her birthday with a party yesterday along with staff and friends at the nursing home, television footage from local broadcaster TVQ Kyushu Broadcasting Co showed.

Tanaka, whose birthday was on January 2, took a bite from a slice of her big birthday cake. "Tasty," she said with a smile. "I want some more."

Tanaka was last year confirmed as the oldest living person at the age of 116 and 66 days as of March 9, according to the Guinness World Records.

Tanaka's record age is symbolic of Japan's fast-ageing population, which, coupled with its falling birthrate, is raising concerns about labour shortages and prospects for future economic growth.

The number of babies born in Japan fell an estimated 5.9 per cent last year to fewer than 900,000 for the first time since the government started compiling data in 1899, according to Japan's welfare ministry.

Tanaka was born prematurely in 1903 and married Hideo Tanaka in 1922, Guinness World Records said. The couple had four children.