Tomoji Tanabe

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Tomoji Tanabe

Born	September 18, 1895 (&0000000000000112.000000112 years, &0000000000000268.000000268 days) Miyakonojo, Miyazaki Prefecture, Japan
Occupation	Former civil engineer
Title	World's oldest man

Tomoji Tanabe (田鍋友時, Tanabe Tomoji^?) (born September 18, 1895) is a Japanese supercentenarian and, currently, at age 112, the oldest living man in the world. Tanabe became the oldest living man in Japan following the death of Nijiro Tokuda on June 12, 2006, who was 111 at the time, and upon the death of 115-year-old Emiliano Mercado del Toro on January 24, 2007, he assumed the title of the oldest validated living man in the world. As of May 2008, ten women are older than him, including 115-year-old American Edna Parker, who is currently the oldest validated person in the world. Tanabe is the last remaining documented male from 1895. Currently, there are eight validated persons living from 1895, six are older than Tanabe, while one is younger. With the death of fellow 112-year-old Anne Christopher on October 10, 2007, he was recognized as one of the top 20 of oldest living people. Tanabe has been recognized as the second-oldest living person in Japan and, following the death of Clémentine Solignac on May 25, 2008, the 11th overall in the world.

In spite of being the youngest "oldest living man" since 1999, Tanabe ranks 15^th among the oldest men ever as of June 2008. This is inclusive of the disputed cases of Shigechiyo Izumi, Mathew Beard and Moses Hardy.^{[citation needed]}

Born in Miyakonojo, Miyazaki Prefecture, he worked as a civil engineer at the city office.^[1] He has eight children, 25 grandchildren and 54 great-grandchildren.^[2] Tanabe says total abstinence from alcohol is the secret to his longevity.^[3]

On his 112th birthday, Tanabe stated that: "I want to live forever. I don't want to die," as he received 100,000 yen ($870) and flowers from the local mayor. Tanabe (Guinness Book of World Records' oldest living male, June 2007) is "extremely healthy." Tanabe eats vegetables and does not drink alcohol, just daily milk.^[4]^[5]