World's oldest living man who celebrated smiling, dies at 112 Chitetsu Watanabe passed away on Sunday in Japan.

The Japanese man who was recently named the world's oldest living male person has passed away at the age of 112.

Chitetsu Watanabe was honored by Guinness World Records with a certificate and celebration less than two weeks ago and died on Sunday.

Watanabe, who credited smiling for his longevity, was confirmed dead on Tuesday by the organization and funeral home taking care of him, according to The Associated Press.

Watanabe, who was the oldest of four siblings, was born March 5, 1907, in Niigata, Japan.

He was four years shy of the record for the oldest man ever, according to Guinness World Records, which was held by Jiroemon Kimura, also from Japan, who died at the age of 116 in June 2013.