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No, this isn’t a photo of the 256-year-old ‘oldest person on earth’

Is this a photo of a 256-year-old woman “who lives in Japan”?

No person in recorded history has ever lived that long.

Still, a Facebook post claims the photo shows “the oldest human being on earth. She is 256 years old... She lives in Japan, and she is still alive. So, would you just TYPE Amen for her amazing life journey? Go on, please share.”

The post has been shared almost 300,000 times. A South African user flagged it as false, so Africa Check had a look.



127-year-old woman from China


A reverse image search reveals that the photo is of Luo Meizhen, a Chinese – not Japanese – woman, who died in 2013.

It was reported that she was 127 years old when she died – a good 129 years younger than the woman the Facebook post claimed was “still alive”.

A number of English-language sites from China show the image of Luo used in the Facebook post.

It’s even been disputed that Luo was as old as 127 years when she died.

But a couple of things are certain: she’s not “still alive” at 256 years old, and she wasn’t “from Japan”. – Africa Check (24/05/19)

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