Tomoji Tanabe

Tomoji Tanabe
Birth:	18 September 1895 Miyakonojo, Miyazaki, Japan
Death:	19 June 2009 Miyakonojo, Miyazaki, Japan
Age:	113 years, 274 days
Country:	JPN
Validated

Tomoji Tanabe (18 September 1895 – 19 June 2009) was a Japanese supercentenarian who was, at the time of death, the world's oldest male. On his death, Henry Allingham became the world's oldest living man. He became the oldest validated living man on 28 January 2007, after the death of 115-year old Emiliano Mercado del Toro, who was over 4 years older than him and despite being the youngest man to hold the title since John Painter (over 7 years before), he kept the title for over 2 years and reached 113 until his death from a heart disease.

Tanabe lived his life in Japan, and, at age 112, was extremely healthy. He maintained a careful, alcohol-free diet, and until near his death took long walks by himself every day. In his last years, distant supercentenarian watchers naively predicted he would one day be the oldest living person in the world due to his apparent health. He did manage to rank among the 100 oldest persons and the 10 oldest men ever documented. He is still in the Top12 of oldest verified man ever. He also worked as a land surveyor and civil engineer.

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