News24
20 Jan 2019, 21:07 GMT+10
The world's oldest man has died at his home - a hot springs inn - in northern Japan at the age of 113.
Masazo Nonaka died in the early hours of Sunday while sleeping at home in Ashoro on Japan's northern main island of Hokkaido, his family said.
He died peacefully from natural causes, according to his granddaughter Yuko Nonaka.
The supercentenarian, whose family has run a hot springs inn for four generations, was certified by Guinness World Records in April 2018 as the world's oldest living man at 112 years and 259 days.
Born on July 25, 1905, Nonaka grew up in a large family and succeeded his parents running the inn. The 106-year-old inn is now run by his granddaughter Yuko.
She said her grandfather appeared to be as usual until her elder sister noticed he was not breathing. He was pronounced dead by his family doctor.
"He didn't have any health problem. ... He went peacefully and that's at least our consolation," she said.
Nonaka, who enjoyed eating sweets, used to regularly soak in the springs, and would move about in the inn in a wheelchair, wearing his trademark knit cap.
He outlived all seven of his siblings, as well as his wife and three of their five children.
The fastest-aging country in the world, Japan as of September 2018 had a centenarian population of 69 785, nearly 90 percent of them women, according to the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare.
The world's oldest living person is also Japanese - Kane Tanaka, a 116-year-old woman from Fukuoka on the southern main island of Kyushu.
Get a daily dose of China National News news through our daily email, its complimentary and keeps you fully up to date with world and business news as well.
Publish news of your business, community or sports group, personnel appointments, major event and more by submitting a news release to China National News.
More InformationNEW YORK CITY, New York: Former British prime minister Rishi Sunak will return to Goldman Sachs in an advisory role, the Wall Street...
LONDON, U.K.: Physically backed gold exchange-traded funds recorded their most significant semi-annual inflow since the first half...
AMSTERDAM, Netherlands: Some 32 percent of global semiconductor production could face climate change-related copper supply disruptions...
NEW YORK, New York - U.S. stocks rebounded Tuesday with all the major indices gaining ground. Markets in the UK, Europe and Canada...
NEW YORK CITY, New York: Financial markets kicked off the week on a cautious note as President Donald Trump rolled out a fresh round...
RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil: At a two-day summit over the weekend, the BRICS bloc of emerging economies issued a joint declaration condemning...
HONG KONG: China has fired back at the European Union in an escalating trade dispute by imposing new restrictions on medical device...
New Delhi [India], July 11 (ANI): Melbourne Renegades and Brisbane Heat are set to kick off the Women Big Bash League (WBBL) 11 season...
Taipei [Taiwan], July 11 (ANI): Taiwan's Ministry of National Defense on Friday detected one Chinese aircraft and nine Chinese naval...
YAN'AN, Shaanxi Province, July 11 (Xinhua) -- The former site of the first science and engineering higher education institution founded...
FUZHOU, July 11 (Xinhua) -- Bond with Kuliang: 2025 China-U.S. Youth Choir Festival, with the theme of Singing for Peace, kicked off...
(250711) -- KUALA LUMPUR, July 11, 2025 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, also a member of the Political Bureau of the...