Japanese woman believed to be world's oldest

TOKYO, Jan 30 (Reuters) - A 114-year-old Japanese woman thought to be the world's oldest living person loves sweets and joking with those around her, nursing home officials said today.

Yone Minagawa, who was born in southwestern Japan on January 4, 1893, was listed as the world's oldest person by the International Committee on Supercentenarians (ICS) after the death of US resident Emma Faust Tillman, also 114, on Sunday.

Minagawa, who lives in a nursing home in Fukuoka prefecture, southwestern Japan, rises early each morning and likes to eat sweets, especially traditional sweet red beanpaste buns, a nursing home official said.

During her birthday celebration this month, Minagawa beamed at those around her and blew out several candles on a cake decorated with her likeness.

''When the mayor came this morning to tell her that she'd become the oldest person in the world, she smiled and said, 'Oh, really?''' the official added.

Minagawa, who was born the same year as China's Mao Zedong, was widowed early and raised five children by selling vegetables she grew herself.

Guinness World Records said on its Web site (guinnessworldrecords.com) last week when Tillman became the world's oldest person that it was still investigating details about Minagawa.

No further information was immediately available from Guinness.

According to the ICS, the world's second oldest person is a US woman born on April 20, 1893.

The Japanese are among the world's longest-lived people, with 28,395 people aged 100 or above in Japan at the end of September last year, according to the Health Ministry.

REUTERS PB ND1056