Jiroemon Kimura

Jiroemon Kimura|木村 次郎右衛門|Kimura Jirouemon|born April 19, 1897}} is a Japanese supercentenarian who is, at the age of 127 years, 129 days, the longest-lived verified man in history, and the world's oldest living person. He gained the former title on December 28, 2012, when he  surpassed the age of Christian Mortensen, and gained the latter title upon the death of Dina Manfredini on December 17, 2012. Being 115 years 242 days at the succession, Kimura is the oldest man ever to gain the title of the world's oldest living person, and became the first man to hold the title since Emiliano Mercado del Toro, who died on January 24, 2007.

He has also been the world's oldest living man since the death of Walter Breuning on April 14, 2011. Being 113 years 360 days at the succession, Kimura is the oldest man ever to gain the title of the world's oldest living man.

Furthermore, he has been the oldest living man in Japan since the death of Tomoji Tanabe on June  19, 2009, the oldest Japanese and Asian man ever since surpassing Yukichi Chuganji on October 26, 2011, the oldest living person in Japan and in Asia since the death of Chiyono Hasegawa on December 2, 2011, and the second oldest Japanese and Asian person ever, behind Tane Ikai.

He is also the 9th oldest person ever recorded, one of only 6 verified male supercentenarians currently living, and one of only 3 men (the other two being the above-mentioned Emiliano Mercado del Toro and Christian Mortensen) verified to have reached age 115 and the first Asian man to have done so.

Kimura is the last verified living person born in the year 1897, and the last known living man verified to be born before 1900.

Early life and education
Kimura was born as Kinjiro Miyake (三宅 金治郎) on April 19, 1897 in the fishing village of Kamiukawa, the third of six children born to farmers Morizo and Fusa Miyake. According to Kimura's nephew, Kimura's birthday was recorded as April 19, 1897 instead of March 19, 1897 in 1955 by mistake when records from neighboring towns were consolidated and re-done. After he finished school second in his class at age 14, he worked for local post offices for 45 years before his retirement in 1962 at the age of 65.

Marriage and career
In the 1920s, Kimura also worked as a government communications worker in Korea, then a colony of the Empire of Japan. Upon returning from Korea, he married his neighbor, Yae Kimura (1904–1978). Since his wife's family lacked a male heir, he changed his name to Jiroemon Kimura, becoming the ninth member of the family to bear that name.

Personal life
Four of Kimura's siblings lived past the age of 90, and his youngest brother died at the age of 100. Kimura has 7 children (5 surviving), 15 grandchildren (14 surviving), 25 great-grandchildren, and 13 great-great-grandchildren. Kimura is health conscious and active. After retiring from the post office, he turned to farming until the age of 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 Kyōtango, Kyoto Prefecture, with his eldest son's widow, 83, and his grandson's widow, 59. Kimura has outlived 2 of his children and 1 grandson.

On his 114th birthday on April 19, 2011, Kimura mentioned his survival of the 7.6 magnitude 1927 Kita Tango earthquake that hit Kyoto and killed over 3,000 people. Being born in the year 30 of the Meiji period, he has lived in the reigns of 4 emperors, and during the premierships of 61 Japanese Prime Ministers, from Matsukata Masayoshi to Shinzo Abe.

In October 2012, Kimura was presented with a certificate from Guinness World Records Editor-in-Chief Craig Glenday. The reason for the visitation was Kimura's appearance in the new Guinness World Records book 2013; this was the second year in a row Kimura was recognized as the oldest living man in the world, as he also appeared in the 2012 edition of the book. During the meeting Kimura said he spends most of his time in bed.

2009/2010

 * June 19, 2009, Tomoji Tanabe died. Jiroemon Kimura, aged 112 years, 61 days, became the oldest living man in Japan.


 * September 5, 2010, Jiroemon Kimura, aged 113 years, 139 days, surpassed Frederick Frazier to became one of the 10 verified oldest men ever.


 * November 4, 2010, Eugénie Blanchard died. Jiroemon Kimura, aged 113 years, 200 days, entered the list of the 10 oldest living people in the world.

2011

 * January 19, 2011, Jiroemon Kimura, aged 113 years, 275 days, surpassed Beatrice Mears and Tomoji Tanabe to enter the list of the 100 oldest people ever.


 * April 14, 2011, Walter Breuning died. Jiroemon Kimura, aged 113 years, 360 days, became the oldest living verified man in the world.


 * October 26, 2011, Jiroemon Kimura, aged 114 years, 190 days, surpassed Yukichi Chuganji to become the oldest Japanese man ever.

2012

 * April 19, 2012, Jiroemon Kimura became the 3rd verified man in history to reach age 115.


 * December 17, 2012, Dina Manfredini died. Jiroemon Kimura, aged 115 years 242 days, became the oldest living person.


 * December 28, 2012, Jiroemon Kimura, aged 115 years, 253 days, surpassed Christian Mortensen to become the oldest verified man ever.

2013

 * January 2, 2013, Jiroemon Kimura, aged 115 years, 258 days, surpassed Dina Manfredini to become one of the ten oldest verified people ever.


 * January 12, 2013, Koto Okubo died. Jiroemon Kimura, aged 115 years, 268 days, became the last verified living person born in 1897.


 * March 5, 2013, Jiroemon Kimura, aged 115 years, 320 days, surpassed Maggie Barnes to become the 9th oldest verified person ever.