Okagi Hayashi – Gerontology Research Group

Full name: Okagi Hayashi (Japanese: 林おかぎ]
Lifespan: 02.09.1909
Age: 114 years
Birthplace: Tsumagi (now Tsumagicho, Toki City), Gifu Prefecture, Japan
Last residence: Tsumagicho, Toki City, Gifu Prefecture, Japan
Application date: 14.09.2019
Validation date: 09.02.2022
Validation source: MHLW, Japan/Yu Li

Biography

Okagi Hayashi was born in Tsumagi (now Tsumagicho, Toki City), Gifu Prefecture, Japan, on September 2, 1909. Her father worked as a grain wholesaler. After completing her elementary education, she enrolled in Nakatsu Girls’ High School and simultaneously moved to a high school dormitory, leaving her parents’ home.

In her early twenties, Hayashi married an elementary school teacher. Despite her husband’s adoption into the Hayashi family, she retained her maiden name. They initially resided in Hokkaido Prefecture until the birth of their first son, after which they returned to Toki City. There, she took over her family’s grain wholesale business, and the couple went on to have a total of nine children. Hayashi maintained a strong focus on her health from mid-life onwards, regularly consuming homemade green juice and engaging in exercise alongside her husband. Even into her eighties, she relished hot spring trips and gardening with friends from her school days.

As of the most recent information available, Okagi Hayashi resides in Tsumagicho, Toki City, Gifu Prefecture, Japan, at the impressive age of 114 years and 58 days. She is presently the third-oldest validated living person in Japan, following Fusa Tatsumi and Tomiko Itooka.

Longevity Recognition

On October 24, 2013, Hayashi became the oldest known living person in Toki City.
On June 24, 2019, following the passing of 110-year-old Tsuyo Wada, she became the oldest known living person in Gifu Prefecture.
Hayashi continued practicing calligraphy until her nineties and lived with her family in her own home until she turned 105.
In September 2019, she celebrated her 110th birthday, achieving supercentenarian status. At that time, she had eight living children, 22 grandchildren, 39 great-grandchildren, and five great-great-grandchildren.
At the age of 112, she was still capable of reading newspapers and enjoyed engaging in puzzle games.