World's oldest man dies in Japan

TOKYO -- The world's oldest man, a retired educator from Japan, has died at the age of 112, an official said Tuesday.

Sakari Momoi died from kidney failure Sunday at a nursing home in Tokyo, said Saitama city official Aya Kato.

Momoi was born Feb. 5, 1903, in northern Japan's Fukushima prefecture, where he became a teacher. He later moved to Saitama, north of Tokyo, and served as a high school principal until retirement.

Momoi, who enjoyed Chinese poetry and drawing, was certified by Guinness World Records as the world's oldest man in August 2014, when he was 111.

Another Japanese man, 112-year-old Yasutaro Koide of Nagoya, succeeds Momoi as the world's oldest man, according to the Los Angeles-based Gerontology Research Group. Koide was born March 13, 1903.

One of the world's fastest-aging countries, Japan has about 54,000 centenarians.

The world's oldest person is Susannah Mushatt Jones of Brooklyn, New York, who celebrated her 116th birthday on Monday.