Matsu Nakazato

Matsu Nakazato (née Shinjo) (3 Feb 1882 - 3 Aug 1993) was the third-oldest living person in Japan at the time of her death. She lived in Tana, Iyeha, Okinawa.

Nakazato was the youngest of five children. She did not attend school, instead working on her farm. She married Kamejiro Nakazato, who was a year younger, and they worked as farmers. However, they had no children, as Kamejiro had apparently been castrated.

Nakazato adopted her nephew, Shosei, as a son after he participated in World War II. She was widowed in 1955, and since then, she worked by taking care of her grandchildren. Nakazato liked to eat sweets, and until the age of 70, she would smoke up to 20 cigarettes a day. She also enjoyed drinking awamori (Okinawan rice wine) at special events. At the age of 90, she became cognitively impaired.

Nakazato spent her later years living with Shosei's family, until his fourth son was hospitalised and his wife had to move out; she, then aged 102, moved to a nursing home. It was around this time that she developed asthma, and she was later diagnosed with aortic stenosis.

Nakazato died of respiratory failure at the age of 111 years 181 days.