18th September - One hundred and twelve candles on the cake for the world's oldest man, who earned a place in the Guinness Book of Records back in June 2006. Tomoji Tanabe was born Sept. 18, 1895, and was named the world's oldest male after the death of a Puerto Rican man in January at the age of 115.
Tomoji Tanabe, a Japanese man born on 18 September 1895, has celebrated his record birthday at home in Miyakonojo, on the island of Kyushu, 900 kilometres south-west of the capital.
The town's Mayor paid his respects with a bunch of flowers and a cheque for 850 yen, equal to around 650 euro. And of course, the question about the secret of a long life.
Drink milk, steer clear of alcohol and eat healthily: lots of greens and a breakfast of rice soup, miso (fermented soya) and algae. Tanabe claims that he has never stopped keeping his diary, reading every daily paper of the day and going for a walk alone.
"He is in really good health", doctors assure us. "I want to live for ever, I do not want to die", he told journalists. It is a target that more and more Japanese are attaining: according to statistics, there are over 32,000 hundred-year-olds.
The women of the rising sun have held the world record in longevity for the past twenty-two years, with the men second only to Icelanders. However, with life-expectancies growing and birth-rates falling, Japan risks a demographic crisis, warn experts.
