Biography
Born in Miyakonojo, Miyazaki, Tanabe worked as a civil engineer at the city office. He is survived by eight children, 25 grandchildren and 54 great-grandchildren. He credited total abstinence from alcohol and smoking as the secret to his longevity. On his 112th birthday, he stated: "I want to live forever. I don't want to die", as he received 100,000 Japanese Yen and flowers from the local mayor. Tanabe (Guinness Book of World Records' oldest living male, June 2007) was "extremely healthy". He ate vegetables and drank milk daily.
A former city land surveyor, Tanabe, on his 113th birthday said "I am happy. I eat a lot. I don't want to die yet." In 2008, he said he wanted to "live indefinitely." Tanabe received a giant tea cup engraved with his name and date of birth plus birthday gifts, flowers and 100,000 Japanese Yen cash from Miyakonojo Mayor Makoto Nagamine. A Miyakonojo official said: "His favorite food is fried shrimp, but we've heard that he's cut back on oily food. He said he wants to live for another 10 years, that he doesn't want to die."
However after his last birthday, Tanabe's health deteriorated quickly. He had mostly been bed-ridden since early May 2009 and could not eat, due to a chronic heart condition. On 19 June 2009, Tanabe died in his sleep of heart failure at his home in southern Japan. He was 113 years 274 days old. Upon Tanabe's death, English World War I veteran Henry Allingham, age 113, became the world's oldest living man, but died a month later.
Read more about this topic: Tomoji Tanabe
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