Jiroemon Kimura, a Japanese resident has become the world’s oldest person. The 115-year-old super centenarian has gained the title from an American woman who died on December 17, 2012.
Yasushi Nakayami, the mayor of Kyotango has hailed the 115-year-old man for becoming the oldest person in the world. Kyotango is near Japan’s ancient capital of Kyoto and the new status of Kimura was confirmed on the elder on December 18, 2012 and was called the ‘pride of our town’.
Kimura is 15 days younger than his predecessor Dina Manfredini. He was born on April 19, 1897. Dina died in Iowa just two weeks after inheriting the title as the world’s oldest living person. However, the family of Kimura refused to give comments to reporters on December 18, 2012, out of consideration for Manfredini’s family. Kimura has 7 children, out of which 5 are still alive, 15 grand children out of which 14 are surviving, 25 great grand children and 13 great-great grand children.
The former postal employee is health conscious and active. He worked for the postal office for 40 years and post retiring he turned to farming until the age of 90. After waking up in the morning, he reads the newspaper with a magnifying glass and enjoys talking to guests.
