A 111-year-old Japanese man has been named the world's oldest living man after receiving a certificate from Guinness World Records on Wednesday, The Associated Press reported.
Sakari Momoi, a retired educator, succeeds New York's Alexander Imich, who died in June at 111 years and 124 days old. Mamoi is 111 years and 196 days old, according to Guinness World Records.
"To put Mr. Momoi's age into perspective, he was born before the Wright brothers made their first powered flight, before Henry Ford produced his first car and before the birth of author George Orwell and jazz legends Bix Beiderbeck and Fats Waller," said Guinness World Record Editor in Chief Craig Glenday.
Momoi was born Feb. 5, 1903 and became a teacher in Fukushima prefecture, the same city where he was born. After World War II, Momoi moved to Saitama and was a high school principal there until he retired, according to Guinness World Records.
He married his late wife in 1928, and together they had five children.
Momoi, whose age was confirmed with official documents, was born a day after his predecessor, the late Imich, Guinness World Records states.
During the televised ceremony, Momoi said he wants to live longer.
"I want to live for about two more years," Momoi said, who only suffers from poor hearing, according to The Malay Mail Online.
The question everyone must be asking is: What's the key to longevity?
No special trick, according to Momoi, though his caregivers say he keeps early hours and eats healthy, according to NHK public television.
Momoi currently lives in a nursing home in Tokyo and is one of 54,000 centenarians in Japan. Guinness World Records says his family asks for a "peaceful atmosphere for their father."
Momoi isn't the only Japanese person to live such a long life.
Japan, according to AP, has the highest average life expectancy for people: 80.21 for men and 86.61 for women. It was also home of the oldest man ever: 116-year-old Jiroemon Kimura, who died in June 2013, according to the Malay Mail Online.
The title for the world's oldest living person is held by a woman, 116-year-old Misao Okawa, also from Japan, the Malay Mail Online reports.
"Back in 1903, the world had only ... staged the second ... modern Olympic Games, and Albert Einstein was yet to publish his theory of special relativity," Glenday said. "It's difficult to imagine that a contemporary of this era is flourishing to this day, so it's a particular special honor to acknowledge Mr. Momoi and his remarkable longevity."
