Recognized by the Guinness Book of World Records as the oldest person in the world, the great-great-grandmother credits her longevity to "not moping around."
Hongo claims that unlike most people, who require a snooze once a day, she sleeps for two solid days then stays awake for the next two. She's been living this way for the past five years.
Born in 1887, Hongo is bedridden and shares a hospital room with her 77-year-old daughter. Hongo's husband died almost 40 years ago.
Kamato Hongo with daughter Shizue Kurauchi (CP Photo)
Hongo enjoys snacking on unrefined brown sugar. She was raised a farmer's daughter on a small, rural island on Japan's southern fringe.
Hongo is one of many Japanese to pass the 100-year-old mark. Government statistics show that the country will have 20,561 centenarians by the end of September, 84.6 per cent of them women.
Samurai rule, or the rule of the Tokugawa family of Shoguns, ended in 1868 with the ascension of the Meiji emperor.
