At 112 years and 344 days as on 12th February 2020, Chitetsu Watanabe from Niigata, Japan, has been confirmed as the oldest living man.
And guess what is his secret to his longevity?
In an interview to a local newspaper in January 2019, Watanabe mentioned that the secret to his long life is “not to get angry and keep a smile on your face.”
Isn’t this an absolutely fantastic piece of advice?
Born on 5th March 1907, Watanabe was the eldest of eight children. And his life is a very interesting one. He graduated from agricultural school and soon after, joined the Dai-Nippon Meiji Sugar. Subsequently, he moved to Taiwan to work with the sugar cane plantation contracts there. He also served in the military towards the end of the Pacific War in 1944.
In the meantime, he married Mitsue and had five children.
Post the war, Watanabe returned to his hometown Niigata in Japan. He then began to work at an agricultural office of the Niigata Prefectural office until retirement.
Not one to become inactive post retirement, he built a home for his family in 1974 along with buying a hectare worth of farm close to the home. In the farm, he grew a wide variety of fruits and vegetables that included potatoes, tomatoes, strawberries, and plums. Would you believe that he was actively involved in farming until the age of 104!!
Currently, he lives in a rest home and is not as active as he was earlier although he was involved in a variety of activities such as calligraphy and origami until last summer.
Japan is one of those nations where the life expectancy of citizens is extremely high. Many people recorded to be the oldest living have been from this nation.
Isn’t this amazing? Do let us know your views on Chitetsu Watanabe in the comments section below.
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