Tokyo:The world’s oldest man, Yasutaro Koide, died at the age of 112 in central Japan due to chronic heart failure.
Koide, a former tailor and recognised by the Guinness World Records as the oldest living man on Earth, died at a hospital in Nagoya, his relatives said.
Koide became the oldest living man in the world last August following the death of then-record holder Sakari Momoi of Saitama Prefecture, who was also 112 years old, Kyodo News agency reported.
Koide was quoted as saying his secret to long life was not smoking or drinking, not to overdo things and to “live with joy”.
Officials said he died of heart failure and pneumonia, just two months short of his 113th birthday.
Born in Tsuruga, Fukui Prefecture, in March 1903, a young Koide trained as a menswear tailor in Osaka before returning to his hometown to earn his living making formal wear such as tuxedos and tailcoats.
It was not yet clear who will succeed him as the oldest living man. The title of world’s oldest person is held by US woman Susannah Mushatt Jones, who is 116 years old.
