Makato Kinjo

Supercentenarian data for Japan

• Full name: Makato Kinjo  [Japanese: 金城マカト] (née Takara)
• Lifespan: 1888-08-07 – 1998-08-18
• Age: 110 years, 11 days
• Birthplace: Okinawa, Okinawa Prefecture, Japan
• Last residence: Katsuren, Okinawa Prefecture, Japan
• Application date: N/A
• Validation date: 2002-08-18
• Validation source: MHLW Japan/Winn Cynar

Biography

Early Life

Makato Kinjo was born as Makato Takara in Okinawa Prefecture, Japan on 7 August 1888. She had 2 half-siblings born to her father’s first wife. She had 5 other siblings. Her father worked as a butcher and died at age 90; her mother died aged 70. Two of her siblings died aged 60, one at 45, and a brother died aged 70. The ages of her remaining siblings are not certain.

Kinjo never received an official education. She married her first husband, a man with the last name Teruya, at the age of 21. Kinjo mainly farmed their land, but also partook in weaving and sewing. Three years into the couple’s marriage, they moved to Hawaii, USA, but divorced 7 years later due to Kinjo’s inability to produce a baby boy. Kinjo married her second (and last) husband aged 47. During their 33-year-long marriage, they amassed a lot of money from a shop in Japan that they were operating.

Later Life

At the age of 85, Kinjo had surgery to remove cataracts, and underwent surgery again 5 years later for a broken hip. She moved into a nursing home aged 94, after suggesting the option to her daughter. Kinjo was very independent, and particularly enjoyed tofu. She was noted to have always removed the fat from pork before she ate it.

Kinjo spent her final years in the Yokatsunosato Nursing Home [Japanese: 与勝の里] in Katsuren.

Makato Kinjo died in Katsuren, Okinawa Prefecture, Japan, on 18 August 1998, aged 110 years, 11 days. At the time of her death, she was the third-oldest living person in Okinawa Prefecture, after Matsu Kayo and Kamado Okuhara.

Validation

The supercentenarian case of Makato Kinjo is verified by MHLW Japan and Winn Cynar and validated by the Gerontology Research Group on 18.08.2002.