BIOGRAPHY

Kaneta was born in Rumoi, Hokkaido Prefecture, Japan, on 13 May 1903. When he was about 15 years old, he started working at the Fuji Paper Mill in Kushiro City, Hokkaido Prefecture. In 1926, at the age of 23, he was transferred to the Shirutoru Mill in Sakhalin. Three years later, at the age of 26, he was reassigned to Esutori Town on the west coast of Sakhalin. He undertook a several-day journey on a horse-drawn sleigh to reach his new post, which was hundreds of kilometers away, traversing the trackless roads of the snowy mountains.

In 1933, the company he worked for, Fuji Paper, merged with Oji Paper. In 1940, coinciding with the 2,600th anniversary of the founding of the Empire of Japan, Kaneta was selected as one of the distinguished service members of the Veterans Association and received a commendation from the Army General. However, following World War II, he was captured by the Soviet army due to possessing the certificate.

One day, while assigned to carry lumber deep in the mountains, a pile of logs collapsed, causing him to fall into a river and sustain serious, near-fatal injuries. However, he recovered and returned to work within half a month. The Nichiren sect amulet and guardian amulet he carried in his pocket during the accident were broken in two, yet they seemingly saved his life.

In August 1948, he and his family managed to return to Hokkaido, where they dedicated themselves to rice cultivation. He raised six children there. In 1999, he moved to Kamisu City, Ibaraki Prefecture, where his third son resided. Even after turning 100 years old, he continued to pursue his hobby of writing Tanka, a passion he developed during his time in Hokkaido. Sometime before turning 108, he moved into the nursing home. His favorite food was reportedly fish. Although he broke his leg in 2012, at the age of 109, and was confined to a wheelchair, he maintained his appetite, good mental and physical health, and even delivered a humorous speech at his 110th birthday party the following year.

Kaneta passed away of pneumonia at the hospital in Kamisu, Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan, on 28 January 2014, at the age of 110 years, 260 days.

RECOGNITION

In October 2010, he became the oldest living man in Ibaraki Prefecture.

At the time of his passing, he was the third-oldest living man in Japan, after Yasutarō Koide and Sakari Momoi.

His age was verified by Japan’s Ministry of Health, Labour, and Welfare (MHLW), as well as Yumi Yamamoto and Ryohei Asano, and validated by LongeviQuest on 20 April 2024.

ATTRIBUTION

* “県内男性最高齢109歳” – Public relations magazine Kamisu, 1 July 2012 issue

* “ひと足早く１１０歳祝う　最高齢の金田さん　茨城” – Asahi Shimbun, 6 May 2013

* “崩れた丸太と共に川に転落 ・瀕死 の重傷” – MIC of Japan

GALLERY