World's oldest man, who said secret was smiling, dies at 112

Watanabe loved cream puffs and bonsai

AP2_25_2020_000097A File: Chitetsu Watanabe, 112, poses next to the calligraphy he wrote after being awarded as the world's oldest living male by Guinness World Records, in Joetsu, Niigata prefecture, northern Japan | AP

The secret to a long life is smiling, believed Chitetsu Watanabe, the world's oldest man, who died on Tuesday at the age of 112. Born in 1907, Watanabe worked in Taiwan for 18 years before he returned to Japan and worked for Niigata prefecture's government until retirement. 

About two weeks ago, the Guinness Book of World Records officially recognised him as the world's oldest living man. Watanabe, who grew fruit and vegetables on the family farm is survived by five children, 12 grandchildren, 16 great-grandchildren and one great-great-grandchild, reported Japan's national newspaper Mainichi. 

Watanabe loved cream puffs and bonsai, the Japanese traditional art of raising small sculpted trees.

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