World's Oldest Living Man Passed Away Aged 112 Less Than Two Weeks After Receiving World Record

Feb 25, 2020

Chitetsu Watanabe, the Japanese national who was named the world’s oldest living person just this month, has died at the age of 112.

Watanabe, who is from Joetsu City, Niigata, passed away on Sunday evening – just 11 days before his 113th birthday. 

Chitetsu Watanabe was named the oldest living man by the Guinness World Records on February 12 this year. His predecessor, Gustav Gerneth, died in October 2019 at the age of 114. 

He lived with his son Tetsuo and his family up until four years ago, after he fell sick from the flu and was moved to a retirement facility.

According to the Mirror, the Guinness-World-Record-holder was born on March 5, 1907, in the Japanese village of Uragawara, now known as Joetsu. He was the oldest of 8 siblings to parents Miya and Haruzo, both farmers.

He would eventually attend the Niigata Prefectural Takada Agricultural High School before moving to Taiwan to work at a sugarcane company. He also served the military during WWII towards the end of the Pacific war in 1944.

Watanabe met his wife Mitue while still in Taiwan, and together they had five children. In 1974, he retired and built a family home with his son Tetsuo on a farm where they grew fruits and vegetables. 

Earlier this month, he was presented with a certificate that declared him the oldest living man in the world in his retirement home.

Our condolences go out to the Watanabe family.