Makato Kinjo was a Japanese supercentenarian who was born on 7 August 1888.
Born Makato Takara in Okinawa, Japan, Kinjo was born to a father who worked as a butcher and who died at 90, and a mother who died at 70; she was her father's fourth child and her mother's second. In total, Kinjo had seven siblings, the eldest two of them half-siblings born to her father's first wife.
Two of her siblings died at 60, one died at 45, and another lived until he was 70. The ages at death of the remaining three siblings cannot be ascertained.
Kinjo, who never received an official education, married her first husband, a man surnamed Teruya, at 21 years of age. Though Kinjo mainly farmed the land, she also partook in weaving and sewing.
Three years into her first marriage, Kinjo and her husband moved to Hawaii, United States. They were, however, divorced ten years into their marriage due to Kinjo's inability to produce a baby boy.
She married her second and last husband at 47, a marriage that would last 33 years until her husband's death. During their marriage, the pair amassed a fair amount of wealth from a shop in Japan they were operating.
At 85 years of age, Kinjo had surgery to remove cataracts, and underwent surgery once more five years for a broken hip. Kinjo eventually moved to a nursing home at 94, after suggesting the option to her daughter.
Kinjo was independent by nature, and particularly enjoyed tofu. She was noted to have always removed the fat from pork whenever she ate it.
Kinjo passed away in Okinawa, Japan, on 18 August 1998, aged 110 years, 11 days. She is currently the youngest Japanese supercentenarian validated by the Gerontology Research Group and the 188th oldest Japanese on record.