Mitoyo Kawate

Mitoyo Kawate (川手 みとよ) (May 15, 1889 – November 13, 2003) was, at age 114, briefly the oldest recognized person in the world after the death of either Kamato Hongo or Yukichi Chuganji, both also from Japan.

A resident of Hiroshima, she worked on a farm until injuring her hands at the age of 99. Another Hiroshima woman, Asa Takii (1884-1998), had also lived to age 114, and in doing so she had become the oldest in Japan, but Kawate is the oldest person in the city's history and the only one from there to become recognized as oldest in the world. She was known for her fondness for custard.

She was taken to a hospital shortly before her death from pneumonia. Her 'oldest person' reign of 13 days was brief and the shortest on record since Florence Knapp's 15 days in 1988. In 2007, Emma Tillman held the title for only four days, removing this dubious distinction from Mitoyo.

Her death left Ramona Trinidad Iglesias-Jordan of Puerto Rico the oldest documented person in the world, though this was not recognized by the Guinness Book of Records until 2004 (Charlotte Benkner had been given the title in the interim).