About
Remembered for his Guinness Book of World Records designation as the world's oldest person alive, this supercentenarian had his title posthumously revoked after his stated birth year came into question. At the time of his death, he was either 120 or 105 years old, depending upon his actual birth year.
Before Fame
He was born on the island of Tokunoshima, in what was then the Ryukyu Kingdom.
Trivia
He frequently drank an alcoholic beverage called shochu and, in his seventies, began smoking. It is speculated that the birth certificate submitted as his own was actually his brother's.
Family Life
The birth certificate that he used as proof of his claim to be the oldest man alive was believed by some to have belonged to his older, long-ago deceased brother.
Associated With
Before his birth year was called into question, he, like Frenchwoman Jeanne Calment, was one of a handful of Guinness-verified longest-living people.
