117-year-old Nabi Tajima, the oldest living person. YouTube On Friday 117-year-old Violet Mosse Brown, the oldest person in the world, passed away, leaving the title to Nabi Tajima of Japan, who is also 117.

Tajima was born on August 4, 1900, in the town of Kikai, Kagoshima Prefecture, and has had her age confirmed by Guiness World Records.

She currently lives in a home in the city of Kagoshima.

She has a huge family — nine children (seven sons and two daughters), and more than 140 descendants, including 28 grandchildren, 56 great-grandchildren, and 35 great-great-grandchildren.

While Tajima has never publicly spoken about her lifestyle, it's possible that the Japanese diet is the key to a long life, as Business Insider reported late last year in a round-up of tips from the world's oldest people.

Tajima as featured in a YouTube documentary last year. Top 10 Archive/Youtube

Misao Okawa, who held the title of the world's oldest person until she died on April 1 2015, aged 117 years and 27 days, had credited a diet of "ramen noodles and beef stew, hashed beef and rice mackerel sushi" for her longevity.

There are currently just 46 supercentenarians — people who have lived past 110 — in the world, according to The Sun.

Each of them credits something different for their long life — from "being single" to having four strips of bacon every morning.