TOKYO — One of the world's oldest twins, Kin Narita, died on Sunday of heart failure at the age of 107 at her home in the central Japanese city of Nagoya, national broadcaster NHK reported.
Kin, the older twin, and her sister, Gin Kanie, gained fame for their beaming smiles, enormous vitality and shared longevity. The twins said a belief their lives were simple — along with frequent walks — had contributed to their extraordinary health.
Kin had been in the hospital last summer because of a stomach ulcer but was in exceptional form on her Aug. 1, 1999, birthday when she and her sister appeared, wielding pink shovels, at a tree planting ceremony in Sapporo.
"Kin" and "Gin" mean gold and silver in Japanese. They were born into a farming family near Nagoya on Aug. 1, 1892. They lived in separate homes.
They were "discovered" by local politicians who visited the then 99-year-olds on Japan's Respect for the Aged Day, and they were designated national treasures by the government in 1991.