BIOGRAPHY

Tōichi Sasaki was born in Kiyotaki Village (now part of the city of Ōsaki), Miyagi Prefecture, Japan, on 4 September 1905. He worked in agriculture. At the age of 29, he married a woman named Shigeko, and the couple had two sons and six daughters.

His wife passed away in 1997. As of 2005, he had 22 grandchildren and great-grandchildren, and he lived with his eldest son. At the age of 100, his legs were not so strong anymore, but his eyesight and hearing were good. Among his health secrets, he mentioned how he had been taking Chinese medicine for 30 years, and how he was always at bed by 6 PM. As a centenarian, he enjoyed spending time each day drinking tea, chatting, and watching his favorite period dramas on television.

Tōichi Sasaki passed away on 20 April 2017, at the age of 111.

RECOGNITION

In 2011, likely following the passing of 106-year-old Inao Chiba (Japanese: 千葉稲男) of Tome on February 19, he became the oldest living man in Miyagi Prefecture.

Sometime at the age of 107, he became the oldest man to ever live in Miyagi Prefecture.

In September 2015, he celebrated his 110th birthday, becoming the first male supercentenarian in Miyagi Prefecture.

On 29 October 2016, following the death of Japan’s oldest living man of the time, Masamitsu Yoshida of Tokyo, he became the second-oldest living man in Japan, after Masazo Nonaka. Since Nonaka survived him, Sasaki never became the oldest living man in Japan.

ATTRIBUTION

* “いつまでも元気でね　古川・佐々木さん100歳” – Kahoku Shimpo, 18 September 2005

* “100歳以上お年寄り932人/宮城県” – Kahoku Shimpo 14 September 2013

* “100歳以上810人/84人増” – Asahi Shimbun, 15 September 2015

GALLERY