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Shigeko Kagawa, Japan’s oldest person, died on Aug. 27<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n
The former doctor once shared her secret to living a long life<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n
Fuyo Kishimoto, 114, is now Japan’s oldest living person<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Before her recent death at 115 years old, Japan’s oldest person shared her secret to living a long life.<\/p>\n
Shigeko Kagawa<\/a> died on Aug. 27 after living for 115 years and 91 days, according to Japan’s Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare as well as the Gerontology Research Group<\/a> (GRG), which researches supercentenarians.<\/p>\n Kagawa once chalked up her longevity to “walking and using your brain,” per online news outlets C\u00f4ng Lu\u1eadn<\/a> and The Independent<\/a>.<\/p>\n Shigeko Kagawa as a torchbearer for the 2020 Olympic Games in April 2021<\/em> <\/span><\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n When she was younger, Kagawa walked a lengthy distance from home to a train that took her to school. As an adult, the former obstetrician and gynecologist routinely walked to patients’ homes to check on them.<\/p>\n “I think walking a lot since I was a child is the source of my energy today,” she once said, per C\u00f4ng Lu\u1eadn.<\/p>\n Kagawa was born on May 28, 1911, in Yamatok\u014driyama, Nara Prefecture, where she also died.<\/p>\n After graduating from Osaka Women’s Higher Medical School in 1934, she worked in the obstetrics, gynecology and internal medicine departments at Osaka Municipal Minami Citizens’ Hospital, according to GRG.<\/p>\n Three years later, she opened her own practice and continued to work as a medical professional until her 80s.<\/p>\n In April 2021 \u2014 at age 109 years and 11 months \u2014 Kagawa served as a torchbearer for the 2020 Olympic Games, which were delayed a year due to the global COVID-19 pandemic.<\/p>\n After Kagawa’s recent death, GRG noted that 114-year-old Fuyo Kishimoto<\/a>, of Kyoto Prefecture, is now the oldest living person in Japan.<\/p>\n The world’s oldest living person, 117-year-old Ethel Caterham<\/a>, also once revealed her secret to living a long life: “Never arguing with anyone, I listen and I do what I like,” she told the Associated Press<\/a> in 2025.<\/p>\n Read the original article on People<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Credit: Kyodo News via AP<\/em><\/p>\n