Shigechiyo Izumi
 | This article needs additional citations for verification. (November 2007) |
Shigechiyo Izumi | |
|---|---|
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| Born | 1880 (or June 29, 1865) |
| Died | February 21, 1986 (aged 105 or 120) |
| Cause of death | Pneumonia |
Shigechiyo Izumi (泉 重千代, Izumi Shigechiyo, 1880 (or June 29, 1865) – February 21, 1986) was a Japanese centenarian who was titled the oldest living person after the death of Niwa Kawamoto, also from Japan. His case was first verified by Guinness World Records, who titled him the oldest man ever, but Guinness have in recent years backed away from their previous statement; in the Guinness World Records Book 2012, Christian Mortensen is titled "the oldest verified man ever" and Izumi is not even mentioned.[1] His name was recorded in Japan's first census of 1871.
Biography
Izumi's wife died at the age of 90.[citation needed] He drank brown sugar shōchū (a Japanese alcoholic beverage often distilled from barley or rice), and took up smoking at age 70.[2] He claimed to have begun his career in 1872, goading draft animals at a sugar mill, and retired as a sugarcane farmer in 1970 at the claimed age of 105.[citation needed] He attributed his long life to "the Gods, Buddha and the Sun".
Death and controversy over age
After a brief hospitalization, Izumi died of pneumonia[3] at 21:15 Japan Standard Time (JST) on February 21, 1986. Izumi was the longest holder of the "oldest living person" title. He was thought to be one of only two people (the other being Jeanne Calment) verified to have lived past their 120th birthday, although subsequent research has discounted this claim. In April 1987, 14 months after Izumi's death, the Department of Epidemiology at the Tokyo Metropolitan Institute of Gerontology reported that research into Izumi's family registration records indicated Izumi might have died at the age of 105.[4][5] Also in the Guinness World Records Book 2011, it states that "The birth certificate submitted as evidence might actually belong to his older brother, who died at a young age; if the family used Izumi as a 'necronym'—that is, gave him his dead brother's name, as the new research suggests—this means his final age was 105 years old, not 120."[citation needed]
The oldest undisputed case of male longevity is that of Christian Mortensen (1882–1998), who died at the age of 115 years and 252 days. The oldest Japanese man whose age is undisputed is Jiroemon Kimura (born 1897), currently aged 127 years, 204 days.
See also
- List of the oldest people
- Longevity
- Longevity claims
- Longevity myths
- Oldest people
- Senescence
- Centenarian
- Supercentenarian
References
- ^ 2012 edition of Guinness World Records, p.86, ISBN 978-91-7424-168-6
- ^ Guinness Book of Records (1993 (32nd edition) ed.). Guinness World Records Limited. 1992. pp. 320 pages. ISBN 0-85112-978-1.
{{cite book}}: Unknown parameter|month=ignored (help) - ^ The Guinness Book of Records, 1999 edition, p. 102. ISBN 0-85112-070-9.
- ^ Asahi News Service, APRIL 6, 1987, MONDAY, JAPANESE EXPERT DEBUNKS IDEA OF 'VILLAGE OF 100-YEAR-OLDS'
- ^ "The Shigechiyo Izumi Case". Supercentenarian.com. 1987-04-06. Retrieved 2011-08-20.