The twins were born on November 5, 1913, on Shodo Island, Japan.
The Guinness World Record has conferred the title of world's oldest identical twins on 107-year-old sisters from Japan. Named Umeno Sumiyama and Koume Kodama, they have achieved records for the oldest identical twins living (female) and oldest identical twins ever (female) at 107 years and 300 days old as of September 1, 2021, said the global record keeper in a post on Instagram. The sisters currently live in separate locations but spend time together regularly.
They were presented with the official certificate by care home staff as the Guinness World Record employees were unable to visit the twins in person due to COVID-19. Umeno was in tears as soon as she saw the certificate, but Koume could not completely comprehend the significance of the award as her memory is not what it used to be.
In the social media update, the Guinness World Record shared some photographs of the two sisters. In one of the photographs, one of them held the certificate.
The twins were born on November 5, 1913, on Shodo Island in Japan's Kagawa prefecture, but started living apart from a young age. After finishing elementary school, Koume left the island to help her uncle. Umeno tied the nuptial knot with a man who lived on Shodo Island, while Koume married someone outside the island. Later in life, from their 70s onwards, they began to spend more time together.
In a statement, the record keeper said the upbringing of the sisters was similar to that of a TV drama. During their childhood, they were bullied for being twins. The twins are both sociable and positive. In their lifetime, they have seen two world wars.
The Instagram post has received more than 46,000 likes and several comments.
“Wow, they lived through it all,” said a user.
“So they have seen WW1, WW2 and now Covid-19,” wrote another.
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