Shigechiyo Izumi

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Shigechiyo Izumi (Japanese: 泉重千代 Izumi Shigechiyo, June 29, 1865 – February 21, 1986) of Tokunoshima, Amami Islands, Japan (where people are noted for their longevity) was, according to Guinness World Records, the person with the greatest authenticated age in the world after the death of Niwa Kawamoto, also from Japan. Assuming his claimed birthdate is correct, he would have attained an age of 120 years, older than any other recognized male, and the second-longest lived human ever, second only to Frenchwoman Jeanne Calment. He also holds the record for the longest working career for a person, spanning 98 years. He was recorded as a six-year-old in Japan's first census of 1871. His wife died at the age of 90. He drank shōchū (a Japanese alcoholic beverage distilled from barley), and took up smoking at age 70.^{[citation needed]} He began his career in 1872 goading draft animals at a sugar mill, and retired as a sugarcane farmer in 1970 at the age of 105. He attributed his long life to "God, Buddha and the Sun." He stood at 1.42 meters (four feet, eight inches) tall and weighed 42.6 kilograms (94 pounds), and lived through 71 Japanese Prime Ministers.

He died of pneumonia after a brief hospitalization on February 21, 1986, 12:15 GMT, coincidentally the same day as Jeanne Calment's 111th birthday. He was 120 years and 237 days old, the last recognized surviving person to be born in the 1860s and the only male to live at least 116 years and the longest holder of the "oldest living person" title.

Following his death, Mamie Eva Keith became the world's oldest person. Also, for more than 20 years after his death every person with the title of the world's oldest living person had been female until Emiliano Mercado del Toro became the world's oldest living person on December 11, 2006.

Subsequent research has cast doubt on his claim, as what was previously believed to be his birth certificate may actually have been that of his older brother, who died young and whose name might have been reused as a necronym.

[edit] See also

Ageing
Senescence
Tomoji Tanabe, presently the oldest man in Japan

Preceded by Martha Graham	Oldest Recorded Person Ever December 28, 1979 – October 16, 1995	Succeeded by Jeanne Calment
Preceded by Niwa Kawamoto	Oldest Recognized Person in the World November 16, 1976–February 21, 1986	Succeeded by Mamie Eva Keith
Preceded by Frederick Butterfield	Oldest Recognized Living Man 5 May 1973–21 February 1986	Succeeded by Joe Thomas