From the fighter pilot who became a national hero to millions of Chinese to the aging Philippine matinee star who turned his hand to politics to the elderly Japanese man who climbed Mount Everest, a slew of previously unknown personalities have charmed Asia this year.
In Japan, Mitoyo Kawate was recognized by the Guinness Book of Records as the world's oldest living person. Less than two weeks after taking the title, Mrs. Kawate succumbed to pneumonia at age 114.
Mrs. Kawate had survived the 1945 atomic bombing of Hiroshima, and worked on a farm until she was 99 before spending the last decade of her life in a nursing home.
She is joined by fellow Japanese senior Yuichiro Miura as one the region's most notable personalities of the year. Mr. Miura, a skier and mountaineer, on May 22 became the oldest person to scale Everest, the world's highest mountain, at the age of 70 years and 222 days.
"What was really a dream came closer, step by step, and I was finally able to stand on Everest at the highest point in the world," he said.
http://washingtontimes.com/world/20040101-110808-4174r.htm
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