Jiroemon Kimura

Jiroemon Kimura
Born	19 April 1897 (age 127 years, 150 days)
Occupation(s)	Retired postman, farmer
Title	Oldest living man since 14 April 2011 Oldest Japanese man ever since 26 October 2011 Oldest living Japanese male since 19 June 2009 Oldest living Japanese and the oldest living person in Asia since 2 December 2011

Jiroemon Kimura (Japanese: 木村 次郎右衛門 Kimura Jirōemon, born 19 April 1897) is a Japanese supercentenarian who, at the age of 127 years, 150 days, is the world's oldest living man, since the death of Walter Breuning on 14 April 2011. Being 113 years 360 days at the succession, Kimura is the oldest man ever to gain the title of oldest living man. He is the oldest living person in Japan and in Asia since the death of Chiyono Hasegawa on 2 December 2011, and the last living person in Asia born in 1897. Kimura is the first man to be Japan's oldest living person since Denzo Ishizaki, who held the title in the spring of 1999. Kimura has been the oldest living man in Japan since the death of Tomoji Tanabe on 19 June 2009, and the oldest Japanese and Asian man ever since surpassing Yukichi Chuganji on 26 October 2011. On 2 May 2012, Kimura surpassed Chiyono Hasegawa as the oldest Asian person ever to have lived in three centuries. He is one of only three men verified to have reached age 115.

Kimura is currently the 3rd oldest verified living person in the world, the 3rd oldest man ever recorded, the 2nd oldest undisputed Japanese and Asian person ever, and one of the 25 oldest undisputed people in history. He is the last known living man who was verifiably born before the year 1900. Since the death of Delma Kollar on 24 January 2012, he is one of only two people (the other being Dina Manfredini) remaining in the world who were born in 1897.

Life today

Kimura has 7 children (5 surviving), 15 grandchildren (14 surviving), 25 great-grandchildren, and 11 great-great-grandchildren. Kimura is health conscious and active, having worked for the post office for 40 years and after retiring he turned to farming until age 90. He wakes up early in the morning and reads newspapers with a magnifying glass. Also, he enjoys talking to guests and follows live parliamentary debates on television. According to him, small portions of food are the key to a long and healthy life. Kimura resides in Kyoto with his eldest son's widow and grandson's widow. Kimura has outlived 2 of his children and 1 grandson.

On his 114th birthday on 19 April 2011, Kimura mentioned his survival of the 7.6 magnitude 1927 Kita Tango earthquake that hit Kyoto and killed over 3,000 people.

Longevity milestones

Before 2011

• 16 October 2007, Jiroemon Kimura aged 110 years 180 days, was added to the Gerontology Research Group list for Guinness World Records.
• 19 June 2009 Tomoji Tanabe died, Jiroemon Kimura aged 112 years 61 days, became the oldest living man in Japan.
• 4 November 2010 Eugenie Blanchard died, Jiroemon Kimura aged 113 years 200 days, entered the list of the 10 oldest living people in the world.

2011

• 19 January 2011, Jiroemon Kimura aged 113 years 275 days, became one of the 10 verified oldest men ever.
• 14 April 2011 Walter Breuning died, Jiroemon Kimura aged 113 years 360 days, became the oldest living verified man in the world and the last known living man verifiably born before 1900.
• 19 April 2011, Jiroemon Kimura became the 6th undisputed man in history to reach 114.
• 11 September 2011 Tanekichi Onishi died, Jiroemon Kimura aged 114 years 145 days, became the last living Japanese man born in the 19th century and the only known living male supercentenarian in Asia.
• 26 October 2011, Jiroemon Kimura aged 114 years 190 days, surpassed Yukichi Chuganji to become the oldest Japanese man ever and one of the 10 oldest Japanese people ever.
• 28 November 2011, Jiroemon Kimura aged 114 years 223 days, surpassed Mathew Beard to become the 3rd oldest verified man ever.
• 2 December 2011, Chiyono Hasegawa died, Jiroemon Kimura aged 114 years 227 days, became the 3rd oldest living person in the world, the oldest living person in Japan and the oldest living person in Asia.

2012

• 19 April 2012, Jiroemon Kimura became the 3rd verified man in history to reach age 115. Kimura is the first man to reach this age since Emiliano Mercado del Toro on 21 August 2006. He is the 27th verified undisputed person to reach 115.
• 2 May 2012, Jiroemon Kimura, aged 115 years 13 days, surpassed Chiyono Hasegawa to become the second oldest undisputed Asian person ever and the 25th oldest undisputed person in world history.

See also

• List of Japanese supercentenarians
• List of the verified oldest men
• List of the verified oldest people
• List of living supercentenarians
• List of oldest living people by nation
• List of oldest people by nation
• Oldest people