World’s Oldest Man Dies at 112, Oldest Woman Still Going Strong

Sakari Momoi with his World Record (Guinness)

Born before the Wright brothers took to the skies or Einstein published his theory of relativity, the world’s oldest man has died at the age of 112. Sakari Momoi was a retired teacher who lived in a nursing home in Tokyo where he passed away on July 5 from kidney failure.

Born on February 5 1903, Mr Momoi taught agricultural chemistry in Fukushima prefecture before moving to Saitama, north of Tokyo, where he was a high school principal until he retired. He was still active in the nursing home, practicing calligraphy, drawing and reading Chinese poetry.

Guinness World Records certified Mr Momoi as the world’s oldest man in August 2014 when he was 111. He told reporters at the time, “I want to live for about two more years.”

Like being crowned king, becoming the world’s oldest man is bittersweet because it means another person has passed away. Although Guinness is yet to verify it, a compatriot of Mr Momoi’s is now believed to have become the oldest man in the world: Yasutaro Koide is 112-year-old.

The world’s oldest person, meanwhile, is officially recognised as an American woman. Susannah Mushatt Jones, who lives in Brooklyn, New York, is 116 years old.