DHAKA: The world’s oldest woman was celebrating her 116th birthday on Wednesday in a Japanese nursing home with a cake and candles.

Misao Okawa, a descendant of kimono merchants in the city of Osaka, western Japan, received a visit from town mayor Takehiro Ogura earlier this week ahead of her birthday, a nursing home employee said.

Wearing a pink kimono with a red flower headdress, Okawa was presented with a bouquet by the mayor at the facility near her own home.

Asked for a comment on this year’s birthday, the centenarian said, ‘It’s quite a long time’, reports The Straits Times.

BDST: 1310 HRS, MAR 05, 2014