World’s Oldest Man Dies of Heart Failure at Age 120

The oldest man in the world died of heart failure today at the age of 12O after a simple life in which he grew most of his own food and did not take up drinking until the age of 70.

Shigechio Izumi died of pneumonia in his home in Asan on the southern coral island of Tokunoshima where he was born.

“The Guinness Book of World Records” said in its 1985 edition that Izumi’s 120 years were “the greatest authenticated age to which any human has lived.”

Born on June 29, 1865, he lived an uncomplicated life as a small farmer on Tokunoshima and attributed his good health to drinking a glass of shochu--a liquor made from unrefined sugar--and a daily routine of walks.

Izumi’s life spanned two world wars and he was an infant during the collapse of Japan’s last shogunate in 1867. When he heard that man had walked on the moon, he said he simply did not believe it.

Izumi said he smoked three or four cigarettes a day until he was 116, when his doctor advised him to kick the habit. He took up drinking at 70, when he found that he enjoyed a glass of shochu every day.

His doctor advised him to give that up too, but he said he would rather die.