Guinness World Records Names Japanese Sisters As World’s Oldest Identical Twins at 107 Years


Two Japanese sisters have been certified by Guinness World Records as the world’s oldest living identical twins at over 107 years and 300 days.

Umeno Sumiyama and Koume Kodama were born the third and fourth of 11 siblings on Shodoshima island in western Japan on Nov. 5, 1913.

They were separated after elementary school, when Kodama was sent to work as a maid in Oita on Japan’s southern main island of Kyushu. She later married there, while Sumiyama remained on the island where they grew up and had her own family.

The sisters later recalled their difficult younger days. Growing up, they said they were bullied because of prejudice against children of multiple births in Japan.

Busy with their own lives for decades, the sisters rarely met until they turned 70, when they started making pilgrimages together to some of the 88 Shikoku temples and enjoyed being reconnected.

Sumiyama and Kodama were 107 years and 300 days old as of Sept 1, breaking the previous record set by famous Japanese sisters Kin Narita and Gin Kanie at 107 years and 175 days, Guinness World Records Ltd. said in a statement.

The announcement was made on Monday to coincide with Respect for the Aged Day – a national holiday in Japan.


Due to the current situation with Covid-19, and as a precaution, the sisters – who live in different parts of Japan – were sent their official certificates to be presented by staff at their separate care homes.

Previous record holders Kin and Gin had held the title of oldest identical twins at 107 years and 175 days since Kin’s death in January 2000. Gin died the following year, aged 108.

Their families told Guinness that the sisters often joked about outliving the earlier record holders, affectionately known as “Kin-san, Gin-san,” who attained idol-like status in the late 1990s for both their age and humor.

In Japan, life expectancy is the highest in the world, and older people command considerable respect.

The oldest living person on record, according to Guinness, is 118-year-old Japanese woman Kane Tanaka.





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