Japanese man, 115, named world's oldest

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KYOTANGO, Japan, Dec. 29 (UPI) -- A Japanese man pushing 116 years old was declared the world's oldest-living person this week, city officials in Kyoto Prefecture said Friday.

Jiroemon Kimura beat the previous Guinness World Record for male longevity by a single day Friday, when he turned 115 years, 252 days old.

Kimura, who spent most of his life as a mail carrier and farmer, was born in 1897 and has 14 children and 13 great-grandchildren, Japan's Kyodo news service said,

He was recently hospitalized and will remain in the hospital to ring in the New Year.

The previous record holder was Dina Manfredini if Iowa, who died Dec. 17 at age 115, two weeks after claiming the longevity record.