Eiju Tsuru

Eiju Tsuru
Tsuru at the age of 100
Birth:	4 February 1879 Fukuoka, Japan
Death:	11 January 1990 Nagano, Japan
Age:	110 years, 341 days
Country:	JPN
Validated

Eiju Tsuru (4 February 1879 – 11 January 1990) was a Japanese supercentenarian who was the oldest known living man in Japan at the time of his death. His age is validated by the Gerontology Research Group (GRG). He is the oldest man ever from Nagano Prefecture

Biography

Tsuru was born in Fukuoka, Japan. In his youth, he decided not to smoke or drink, a decision he abided by for his entire life. He raised eight children with his wife Shige, who died in 1942 aged 59. Tsuru was fond of bananas, and his family attributed his longevity to "a large appetite and a Meiji era streak of stubbornness".

Tsuru farmed into his 90s, after which he moved from his home prefecture of Fukuoka to the prefecture of Nagano.

Tsuru was the last Russo-Japanese War veteran living in Japan at the time of his death. Only one veteran, Mamoru Eto (1883–1992), who died in the United States, died after him. At the time of Tsuru's death, he was the oldest Japanese man ever, a title he retained until Gengan Tonaki surpassed him in age. He was also the first Japanese man to reach the age of 110.

Upon Tsuru's death from a prolonged illness lasting two months, 109-year-old Kiichi Fujiwara became Japan's oldest man. Tsuru was survived by 15 grandchildren, 20 great-grandchildren, and an immediate family of 41 people.

Gallery

Aged 107

References

• Obituary (available on WOP Group, but original page no longer available)
• Photo Gallery for Supercentenarians born in the year 1879 Gerontology Research Group

Japan's Oldest Living Man Titleholders (V • E)

Komakichi Hatake • Kansaburo Inoue • Sousaburo Oda • Shikazo Mada • Tokusaburo Hatsukade • Sannosuke Hasegawa • Shirozaemon Nakamura • Ikumatsu Matsuura • Masakichi Kai • Goro Usuyama • Senzo Fukushima • Ichisaku Tsue • Ishisaku Iwate • Eisaku Takada • Hisaharu Arai • Chojiro Goto • Yozotaro Yoshikawa • Masutaro Sato • Takutaro Hirakushi• Mataichi Ono • Matsutaro Tanaka • Rinzo Shimizu • Koji Onishi • Inasaku Abe • Mokotaru Osada • Eiju Tsuru • Kiichi Fujiwara • Nisaburo Matsuyama • Shimetaro Hara • Gihei Oka • Gengan Tonaki • Denzo Ishizaki • Sadayoshi Tanabe • Yukichi Chuganji • Kameni Nakamura • Minsho Ozawa • Totaro Murakami • Kohachi Shigetaka • Nijiro Tokuda • Tomoji Tanabe • Jiroemon Kimura • Jokichi Ikarashi • Sakari Momoi • Yasutaro Koide • Masamitsu Yoshida • Masazo Nonaka • Chitetsu Watanabe • Issaku Tomoe • Shojiro Shirai • Motoi Fukunishi • Mikizo Ueda • Shigeru Nakamura • Gisaburo Sonobe • Tomisaburo Wakui • Anonymous • Kiyotaka Mizuno