Mikizo Ueda: Japan’s oldest man who served in WW II dies at age 112

Japan’s oldest man - who survived the Hiroshima atomic bombing and fought in World War II - has died at the age of 112, authorities announced.

Mikizo Ueda died in a nursing home in Nara city of Japan on 9 September, Nara Municipal Government announced on Tuesday.

The country which has one of the highest life expectancy rates in the world hit a record number of centenarians with an estimated 86,510 people aged 100 years or over last year, according to federal data.

Japan has one of the most numbers of people who have been certified by Guinness World Records as the world’s oldest people alive.

Mikizo was born in May 1910 in Kyoto and moved to Osaka after the death of his family. He worked in the finance division of the Wakayama Prefectural Office, according to Global Super Centenarian Forum.

Mikizo served in the Navy during World War II and witnessed the atomic bombing of Hiroshima.

He was passionate about the traditional Japanese way of writing poems, known as haiku, and published book under the pseudonym Morihiko Ueda.

The health ministry of Japan will now announce plans to celebrate the country’s oldest living individual, Fusa Tatsum, on 16 September, according to local media reports.

Ms Fusa is a 115-year-old woman who lives in Kashiwara city, 20 kilometres away from central Osaka in Japan.

The woman used to work in a family orchard where she grew plums, peaches and grapes until she was about 55 years old.

She learnt to play Japan’s classical musical instrument known as an Okoto and studied flower arrangement.

The death of Mikizo comes as Guinness World Records holder for the oldest living person in 2019, died in April this year at the age of 119.

Kane Tanaka was living at a nursing home and was in relatively good health until recently, enjoying playing board games, solving maths problems, drinking soda and eating chocolate.