Jiroemon Kimura

Born in Kyotango, Japan, on 19 April 1897, Jiroemon Kimura died on 12 June 2013 at the age of 116 years and 54 days. He passed the previous men's record of 115 years 252 days, held by Christian Mortensen, in December 2012.

Ages are counted only when birth and later records can be checked, which is why unverified claims of older men are left out.

Context

Kimura's age was confirmed through Japan's household registration system, which keeps continuous civil records for families. This kind of documentation is the key requirement for validating extreme ages, because many older claims in other countries cannot be matched to a birth record.

He worked for a post office for years and later farmed in his home town of Kyotango. When he overtook Christian Mortensen's age in December 2012, he became the oldest man ever verified, a title he held until his death in June 2013, about two months after his 116th birthday.

A published medical case report describes his health in later life, and researchers have used such cases to study how a few people reach ages beyond 110. Men make up a small minority of the oldest verified people, and the female record is held by Jeanne Calment, six years older at death than Kimura.