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Japan's oldest twins half dies at 107

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 national and international 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 hospital last summer because of a stomach ulcer but was in exceptional form on her August 1, 1999, birthday when she and her sister appeared, wielding pink shovels, at a tree planting ceremony in the northern city of Sapporo.

"Kin" and "Gin" mean gold and silver in Japanese and the pair were born into a farming family in a central Japan town near Nagoya on August 1, 1892. They lived in separate homes in Nagoya.

Fame did not come to the twins until they turned 99.

The charismatic pair had appeared on numerous commercials, game shows, news programmes and even graced the pages of "People" magazine.

They recorded a "granny rap" record that vaulted up the Japanese pop charts for their 100th birthdays.

Kin has 11 children, seven grandchildren and five great-grandchildren while Gin has five children, four grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren.

"We never thought we would live this long," Kin said on her 100th birthday. "We could survive because we were twins. We need each other more than anyone else in the world."-Reuters