Seeking advice on how to live a long time? You could do a lot worse than Misao Okawa. The Japanese woman celebrated her 116th birthday on Wednesday, March 5.
Okawa spoke to the UK Telegraph about her secrets for longevity. Those hoping for an obscure secret trick ("Always jump on one foot at exactly 3:43 a.m. while playing the banjo") are in for a disappointment. Okawa attributes her incredible life span to getting plenty of sleep, eating well, and taking a nap as needed.
She told the paper, "Eat and sleep and you will live a long time. You have to learn to relax."
Easier said than done, of course, but when advice on living a long life comes from the world's oldest person, it is worth heeding. Okawa, born in 1898 and great-great-grandmother to six, eats sushi "at least once every month," Tomohito Okada, head of the retirement home where Okawa has lived for the past 18 years, told the Telegraph.
When asked by the Telegraph about her happiest and saddest moments, she spoke about her 1919 marriage to her husband and the birth of her three children. Her husband passed away in 1931. Her surviving children are 94 and 92, according to the Telegraph.
Okawa became the world's oldest living person last year when the previous title holder, Jiroemon Kimura, passed away at the age of 116.