TOKYO — Two twin sisters from Japan have officially made it into the record books.
According to The Associated Press, Guinness World Records announced Monday that Umeno Sumiyama and Koume Kodama, born Nov. 5, 1913, on Shodo Island, are the oldest living identical twins in the world, as well as the oldest ever. As of Sept. 1, they were 107 years, 300 days old – 125 days older than previous record holders Kin Narita and Gin Kanie, who died in 2000 and 2001, respectively.
“It was also a time where being a twin was enough of a reason to get bullied, and that was one of the toughest experiences in their childhood,” the release said of the twins, who were part of a family of 13.
The twins, who live in separate nursing homes, said their childhood was like a television drama, Guinness said in a news release.
The pair lived separately from a young age, with Kodama leaving home after elementary school to help her uncle and ultimately marrying someone outside Shodo Island, according to the release. Umeno, meanwhile, married someone from the island.
After the pair reached age 70, they saw each other more often and went on Buddhist pilgrimages together, Guinness reported.
The women received their Guinness certificates separately, according to the AP.
Read more here or here.
– The Associated Press contributed to this report.