History & Records

112-year-old Japanese certified as world’s oldest living man

Published

6 years ago

April 10, 2018

Masazo Nonaka has been recognized by Guinness World Records, on Tuesday as the world’s oldest living man. He is a 112-year-old Japanese national.

Nonaka, who lives in a family-run hot spring inn on the northern island of Hokkaido, received a certificate from Erika Ogawa, vice president for Japan at the record-keeping organization.

The former inn owner in the town of Ashoro now likes to spend time with his family and also reads newspapers, watches TV and indulges in sweets, according to Guinness.

Nonaka was born on July 25, 1905, just months before Albert Einstein published his special theory of relativity. In 1931, Nonaka married Hatsuno and went on to have five children with her.

“I am happy to have lived to see many generations. I never thought this could be possible especially what I experienced during the great wars” Nonaka had said

“Mr Nonaka’s achievement is remarkable – he can teach us all an important lesson about the value of life and how to stretch the limits of human longevity,” said Craig Clenday, Guinness World Records’ editor-in-chief.

The world’s oldest living person is Nabi Tajima, a 117-year-old resident of the southern Japanese prefecture of Kagoshima, according to the US-based Gerontology Research Group.

She was born on August 4, 1900.

Guinness World Records is currently investigating possible contenders for the title of oldest living person as no one has been recognised since Violet Brown from Jamaica died in July 2017, aged 117.

Japan, known for the longevity of its people, has been home to several oldest title holders, including Jiroemon Kimura, who died in June 2013 at the age of 116.

There are around 68,000 people aged 100 or older in the country, the government said last year.