(Newswire.net — January 20, 2016) — The world’s oldest man passed away on January 19th, 2016, just a couple months shy of his 113th birthday. Who is now the oldest and where on the planet is the greatest number of known centenarians, living to be 100 or more years old?
Japanese native, Yasutaro Koide, the world’s oldest man has died at the age of 112, reported the Associated Press.
Koide was born on March 13th, 1903, in Nagoya, Japan and took the title of the oldest man in the world in August of last year.
The year Koide was born is the same year of the historic first flight made by the Wright brothers, and also the year when Japan was in a dispute with Russia over Manchuria, a conflict that would later evolve into the Russo-Japanese War in early 1904.
When Koide was younger he worked as a tailor for a men’s clothing store. He was doing very well for his age, living at home and regularly attending a day care centre. He did not smoke cigarettes or drink alcohol. The Guinness World Records reported that he did not use dentures but rather his own teeth to eat and he could read the newspaper without glasses.
He said that the secret to a long life is to avoid excessive work and to live with joy. He also explained that it is very important not to overdo anything.
The Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare said Yasutaro Koide died at a hospital in Nagoya, central Japan, where he had been treated for heart problems, reports USA Today.
Japan’s oldest man is now Masamitsu Yoshida, a 111-year-old, and it was not immediately known whether Yoshida is also the world’s oldest male.
The Guinness World Records officials are still investigating successors for the Oldest Living Man in the world.
The oldest person ever was Jeanne Calment who lived to the age of 122, according to the Guinness World Records.
She led an active life. She took up fencing when she was 85, still rode a bicycle at 100 and she also played herself in a film, Vincent and Me, at the age of 114.
Jeanne was very humourous, and when somebody would say to her: “Goodbye and until next year perhaps?”, she would answer with “I don’t see why not! You don’t look so bad to me.”
The majority of the world’s centenarians live in the United States. It is currently estimated that there are 72,000 people who are 100 or more years old. Japan is second to the US, with a current population of approximately 30,000 centenarians.