Japan’s Masazo Nonaka, declared world’s oldest living man in 2018, dies aged 113
- Nonaka enjoyed relaxing in hot springs, reading newspapers, eating cake and watching sumo on television, his family said
Masazo Nonaka, a 113-year-old from Japan who was recognised by Guinness World Records last year as the world’s oldest living man, has died, his family said.
Nonaka, who was born in the northern Japanese town of Ashoro, on Japan’s northern main island of Hokkaido, on July 25, 1905 – the year Albert Einstein published his theory of relativity – died in the early hours of Sunday at his home.
“We feel shocked at the loss of this big figure. He was as usual yesterday and passed away without causing our family any fuss at all,” his granddaughter Yuko said.
Nonaka’s family has run a hot springs inn for four generations. He regularly soaked in the springs and also enjoyed eating sweets – especially cakes.
Guinness World Records confirmed that Nonaka was the oldest living man on April 10, 2018.
At the time, his family members said Nonaka still moved about by himself in a wheelchair, read a newspaper after breakfast every morning, and loved to watch sumo and samurai dramas on television. But his favourite pastime was to soak in the hot springs and relax.
Nonaka has outlived all seven of his siblings, as well as his wife and two of their five children.
Japan is one of the world’s top countries for longevity. The record holder for the oldest man ever is also Japanese, Jiroemon Kimura, who died at the age of 116 years and 54 days on June 12, 2013, according to the British organisation.
Additional reporting by Associated Press and Agence France-Presse
