Oldest living person turns 116 in Japan

KYOTO, Japan, April 19 (UPI) -- The world's oldest living man is marking his 116th birthday Friday and says he still gets up early and reads the newspaper each day.

Jiroemon Kimura, born April 19, 1897, is believed to be the world's oldest person as well as the oldest Asian man on record and the last known surviving man to have lived across three centuries, ABC News reported Friday.

Kimura, who said he still rises early each day, reads the newspaper and never skips meals, worked as a mail carrier in his native Kyoto Prefecture before retiring at age 65 and working as a farmer until the age of 90.

The supercentenarian, who has five children, 14 grandchildren, 25 great-grandchildren and more than 12 great-great-grandchildren, had four siblings live past the age of 90 and a younger brother who lived to be 100, The Guardian newspaper of Britain reported

"It is all thanks to the grace of God," Kimura told reporters on his birthday last year. "I have nothing but gratitude for the life I've been given."

Guinness World Records says the world's oldest living woman, Misao Okawa, also lives in Japan and was born in 1898.