Kame Higa

Kame Higa (22 Jun 1892 - 23 Feb 2005) was the second-oldest living person in Japan at the time of her death, aged 112 years 246 days. She lived in Naha, Okinawa.

Higa was the fifth out of 8 siblings, all of whom died aged 40 or less; her four older siblings died young, while her two younger brothers died in their 20s. At the age of 20, she married, and would later give birth to nine children: seven sons and two twin daughters. Five of Higa's children were still alive at the time of her death; two of her sons, as well as her husband, died in World War II, while one of her daughters and her youngest son both died at the age of 3.

Higa worked as a farmer and tofu maker until she was 50, when she went to Taiwan as a war refugee and whosaled tobacco alone. At this time, she started smoking; whenever she was upset or deep in thought, she would smoke 20 cigarettes a month. She did not drink alcohol.

After WWII, Higa returned home and started a shop which sold daily miscellaneous items, which she continued to run until she was 90. At the age of 60, she had cataract surgery on her right eye. She disliked eating beef and drinking milk. There was nothing that particularly worried her, and she liked to be at her shop and converse with her patrons. At the age of 100, she could still calculate financial transactions.