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Additionally, a 1876 entry in the family registry (koseki) system, established during the early Meiji period to formalize household records, listed Izumi in a manner consistent with his 1865 birth, further corroborating the census data through traditional Japanese documentation practices.[3]Another key document is the 1889 military exemption record, which attested to Izumi being 24 years old and thus excused from conscription to manage sugarcane fields on Tokunoshima Island.

He continued light activities such as tending his garden and taking frequent walks, often accompanied by his dog, until late 1985.[6]By late 1985, however, his condition worsened dramatically when a persistent cold developed into pneumonia, leaving him bedridden for the remainder of his life. His work tenure in sugarcane farming was claimed to last 98 years, retiring in 1970 at the claimed age of 105.[10] However, due to disputes over his birth year, the actual duration is estimated to be shorter, around 83–90 years if born circa 1880.Izumi's roles encompassed demanding field labor, including planting and harvesting sugarcane stalks amid the subtropical climate's challenges like typhoons and soil limitations, as well as supporting mill operations to process the crop into raw sugar.

Gerontologist Toshihisa Matsuzaki, who led aspects of the 1987 investigation, suggested this identity assumption occurred around the brother's early death, potentially near 1873, exacerbating record errors in the rural Amami Islands where formal documentation was limited.[21]Further inconsistencies noted include the absence of a verifiable death certificate for the alleged older brother and challenges in rural record-keeping following the 1879 annexation of Tokunoshima Island to mainland Japan, which introduced administrative transitions and frequent errors in age reporting.

Family records indicate his birth took place on 29 June 1865.[3] An alternative traditional date listed in some records is 20 August 1865. Currently, Jiroemon Kimura, a former postman and farmer from Japan, holds the title of the oldest verified male ever, having lived for 115 years and 327 days.

He was adopted by his grandfather, Katsuzumi Izumi.[5]Izumi married Miya in 1912; she died in 1956 at the claimed age of 90.

After him are Tacfarinas, Eustace IV, Count of Boulogne, Mika Špiljak, Antoni Radziwiłł, Emperor En'yū, and Geoffrey II, Count of Anjou.

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Contemporaries

Among people born in 1865, Shigechiyo Izumi ranks 65.

Matsuzaki and other experts emphasized that age inflation was a commonissue in pre-modern Japanese rural communities, often resulting from oral traditions and incomplete censuses, which could account for the inflated claim in Izumi's case.

Impact on Records

In 2011, Guinness World Records withdrew its validation of Shigechiyo Izumi's age claim, determining that new evidence pointed to a birth year of 1880 rather than 1865, thereby revoking his status as the oldest verified man ever.[1] This decision was effective September 14, 2010, and by the 2012 edition of the Guinness book, Danish-American Christian Mortensen was recognized as the oldest verified male at 115 years and 252 days, excluding Izumi from official records.[15]The age dispute has significant implications for longevity records.

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In Japan

Among people born in Japan, Shigechiyo Izumi ranks 680 out of 6,245.

If this is accurate, Idzumi would have died at the age of 120.

shigechiyo izumi biography channels

His physician, Yoshinobu Moriya, diagnosed the pneumonia as the primary ailment contributing to his decline.[6]Throughout this period, Izumi adhered to his longstanding lifestyle, including a daily glass of shōchū—a traditional Japanese spirit distilled from sugar—that he had begun consuming at age 70.

Shigechiyo Izumi

Purported Japanese supercentenarian

Shigechiyo Izumi (泉 重千代, Izumi Shigechiyo; died 21 February 1986) was a Japanese man who was titled the oldest living person after the death of Niwa Kawamoto on 16 November 1976, also from Japan.

After him are Johannes Franz Hartmann, Pēteris Stučka, Olga Boznańska, Bronisława Dłuska, Erich von Drygalski, and Aspazija. Complementing these official sources, family oral history consistently placed Izumi's birth in the early Meiji era, with relatives recounting his life experiences from the 1870s onward, including memories of the transition from shogunate rule to imperial restoration, which align with a 1865 timeline.[4]

Counterarguments and 1880 Theory

In April 1987, researchers from the Department of Epidemiology at the Tokyo Metropolitan Institute of Gerontology conducted a post-mortem investigation into Izumi's family registration records (koseki), concluding that he died at age 105, implying a birth year of around 1880 rather than 1865, due to significant mismatches between claimed dates and documented life events.

Born into a farming family in 1865, he began laboring in 1872, at approximately age seven, by goading draft animals at a nearby sugar mill—a task that involved guiding oxen or water buffalo to power the grinding process for brown sugar production.[7] This early involvement reflected the pervasive child labor practices in impoverished agricultural communities, where families depended on all members, including children as young as five or six, to contribute to subsistence farming and mill operations due to limited resources and high demands of the sugarcane harvest.[8]By his early twenties, Izumi's essential role in the fields earned him an official exemption from militaryconscription in 1889, when records documented him as 24 years old and indispensable for sugarcane fieldwork during Japan's Meiji-era expansion.[2] This deferment underscored the critical labor shortages in remote rural areas like Tokunoshima, where able-bodied young men were prioritized for agricultural output over national service.

This study highlighted discrepancies in official documents, such as inconsistencies in marriage and succession records that did not align with the 1865 timeline.A prominent theory emerging from this analysis posits that the 1865 birth certificate attributed to Izumi actually belonged to an older brother who died in infancy, a practice known as necronymy where the name and record were reused by a younger sibling born in 1880 to honor the deceased.

Japan's first national census in 1871 recorded Izumi as 6 years old, providing early support for the 1865 birth claim.[2]Izumi was the only son of his parents, Tameminato Izumi and Tsurukame Izumi. Before him are Adolfo de la Huerta, Oboi, Charles II August, Duke of Zweibrücken, Mus'ab ibn al-Zubayr, Nominoe, and Joseph Jenkins Roberts.

Idzumi claimed to vividly remember that day. However, in April 1987, 14 months after his death, the Tokyo Metropolitan Institute of Gerontology reported that examination of Idzumi's family documents indicated that he died at the age of 105. At the time, he was considered the only person ever verified to have reached the age of 120, although subsequent research has cast doubt on his actual age.

In April 1987, 14 months after Izumi's death, the Department of Epidemiology at the Tokyo Metropolitan Institute of Gerontology reported that research into Izumi's family registration records indicated he might have been 105 when he died.[5][6] The 2011 Guinness World Records book states that the birth certificate submitted as evidence might have actually belonged to a deceased brother, and the family may have re-used "Shigechiyo" as a necronym.[7]

With the closing of the Guinness World Record Museum in Niagara Falls, Ontario, in September 2020, the display and fibreglass statue of Izumi was sold for $850 on February 12th 2021 and now resides in a private collection in Canada.[8]

The oldest undisputed case of male longevity is Jiroemon Kimura, also from Japan, who died at age 116 years and 54 days.[9]Jeanne Calment holds the record for oldest female and oldest human ever, at 122 years and 164 days.

He was considered the oldest person for some time, surpassing the age of 120.