World's oldest person says life is too short, dies after 117th birthday

The world's oldest person has died a few weeks after celebrating her 117th birthday - after saying her life seemed 'rather short'.

Misao Okawa was surrounded by her family and staff at her nursing home in Osaka, Japan, as she died of heart failure on April 1.

Born on March 5, 1898, the great-grandmother had lived through two World Wars, the invention of the television and the first successful powered aeroplane flight by the Wright Brothers. 

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The world's oldest person, Misao Okawa of Japan, died on April 1 aged 117. The great-grandmother had only celebrated her most recent birthday on March 5, where she said she thought her life had been 'rather short'

At her 117th birthday party last month Okawa said that her life had seemed 'rather short.'

When asked the secret to long life, she said: 'I wonder about that too.'

Okawa was born in Osaka, west Japan, the fourth daughter of a kimono maker.

She marred her husband, Yukio, in 1919, and they had two daughters and a son. He died in 1931. 

The 'super-centenarian', who was only fifth person ever recorded to have reached the age of 117, but was still walking until she was 110.

She was recognised as the world's oldest person by the Guinness World Records in 2013.

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