The World’s Oldest Living Man – Tomoji Tanabe of Miyazaki Prefecture
September 11th, 2007 by James
Here’s a video of Miyazaki Prefecture’s Gov. Higashikokubaru visting the world’s oldest man, Tomoji Tanabe, who also happens to be a resident of that prefecture. Tanabe will be celebrating his 112th birthday soon, so the celebrity governor decided to visit his house and present him with special stamps that have been made in his image. Gov. Higashikokubaru also thanked Tanabe for helping give their prefecture’s residents a reputation for longevity:
Tanabe, who was born on September 18, 1895, was officially presented with his Guinness World Record title earlier this year. He credits his long life to never drinking alcohol.
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According to this article I’m one of the oldest people in the world.
SWEET!
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Hahah yeah, I’m like, 8 years older than this wannabe lol!
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No smoking or drinking? A daily routine of reading the paper and writing in a diary? That doesn’t sound like much of a life.
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He doesn’t mention the vast amount of medicinal orgies. They add years onto life.
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As long as he is content with life and not in any discomfort, may he live on and on!
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Wow, he lived during three different centuries.. thats pretty impressive. Many memories and so much change… incredible.
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I note James has done some editing….
This guy was born the year the Sino-Japanese War began. Nice to be reminded that Meiji isn’t ‘dead history’. And, assuming he’s been keeping that diary a good while, it could be a very very interesting historical resource for seeing, through one man’s eyes, how Japan changed in the past hundred years….
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That is exactly what I was thinking. I have interviewed many people who fought in WWII or lived through it. Their stories are always incredibly interesting to me. From one man telling me about how his aircraft carrier was sunk at the Battle of Midway and survived even though being strafed at by American fighters to a man who as a child was captivated by the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki (he was a bit on the odd side, haha) there is a lot I have learned about old Japan and new Japan just by asking. If you have the chance, please take it! They will love you for it I am sure!
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Definitely agree. I’ve talked with war vets before – including a former officer in Manchuria who was imprisoned by the Chinese communists, and former Tokko pilots. Some interesting stories, definitely. But what I was getting at was not so much the war stuff, but the chance to get a really REALLY long-term perspective on Japan’s modernisation (like asking war vets not just about the war, but times after).
From the S-J War, then ten years later the R-J War, after which Japan’s industrialisation really takes off, then the post-WW1 boom and slump, the effects of the Russian Revolution, the growth of democracy and party government in the Taisho period and its repression by the militaristic factions and the road to war, then the Occupation, the rebuilding, the High Growth Period, on up to the Bubble and beyond. This guy’s life is an entire university course….
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I can’t recall I had been taught about modern history of Japan after Meiji era at middle school or high school, when I was a kid in Japan. I think most history classes end up with learning from Asuka era to Meiji era.
That’s pretty bad most Japanese students know very little about 20th century history of Japan. I learned about it after I became an adult.
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