One-hundred-and-eleven-year-old Japanese engineer Tomoji Tanabe was awarded official recognition Monday as the world's newest oldest man by the Guinness Book of World Records(GBWR). A 111-year-old Japanese engineer born at the end of the century before last was awarded official recognition Monday as the world's newest oldest man, and joked he was sorry for still being alive. Tomoji Tanabe, a teetotaller who has repeatedly said that avoiding alcohol was a secret of his longevity, was given a certificate from the Guinness Book of World Records by the mayor of his local municipality. Tanabe, from Miyazaki prefecture on the southern island of Kyushu, was born on September 18, 1895 -- before Japan became a world player, Australia became independent or the Wright Brothers created the first plane. "It is nothing special," he said, adding tongue-in-cheek, "I have lived too long. I am sorry." With the recognition, Japan boasts having both the world's oldest man and the oldest woman -- Yone Minagawa, 114, who also lives in Kyushu. To look after himself, Tanabe mainly eats vegetables and few greasy dishes, an official said. He became the oldest male after his predecessor, Emiliano Mercado del Toro of Puerto Rico, died at the age of 115 on January 24. Since then, the Guinness Book of World Records has investigated who should take the title as the oldest man on Earth and contacted Miyakonojo authorities earlier this month to verify Tanabe's birthdate. More than 28,000 Japanese are at least 100 years old, most of them women, according to the government. The Japanese people's renowned longevity is often attributed to eating the country's traditional healthy food, despite the hectic lifestyle many lead in the big cities. But the longevity is also presenting a headache as the country has very low birthrate, spelling a future demographic crisis as a smaller pool of workers supports a mass of elderly. 點擊查看更多雙語新聞 (AP)

本周一，一位于19世紀末出生的111歲的日本工程師被授予官方證書，成為世界上“最新的”壽命最長的老人。他開玩笑說，他很抱歉自己活了這么久。 滴酒不沾的田鍋友時不斷重申，其長壽的秘訣主要是不沾酒。他所在市的市長為他頒發了《吉尼斯世界紀錄大全》授予他的證書。 來自九州島南部宮崎縣的田鍋生于1895年9月18日。當時，日本在世界上還未占據一席之地，澳洲還未獨立、萊特兄弟也還沒有發明出第一架飛機。 田鍋說：“這沒什么特別的。”后來又半開玩笑地說，“我活得太久了，我很抱歉。” 田鍋獲得吉尼斯世界紀錄的認證后，日本便同時擁有了全世界壽命最長的男性和女性，目前全世界壽命最長的女性是114歲的皆川米子，她也住在九州島。 據一位官員介紹，田鍋平時以吃蔬菜為主，很少吃油膩的菜。 波多黎各的115歲老人Emiliano Mercado del Toro今年1月24日去世后，田鍋就成了世界上壽命最長的男性。 之后，吉尼斯世界紀錄大全便開始調查誰可以接過這個頭銜，他們于本月早些時候與宮崎縣都城市有關部門取得聯系，對田鍋的出生日期進行了核實。 據日本政府統計數據，目前日本的百歲老人超過2萬8千人，其中大多數是女性。 日本人以長壽著稱，這常被歸結于人們的飲食以日本傳統的健康食品為主，盡管大城市里很多人生活得忙碌而緊張。 但“長壽”現象對于日本來說也是個頭疼事。日本的出生率極低勢必造成一小群勞動者養活很多老年人的局面，這將會導致未來出現人口危機。 （英語點津姍姍編輯）