Yasutaro Koide, pictured when he was formally recognised as the world's oldest man by the Guinness World Records, has died aged 112 (AP)

The world's oldest man has died in Japan at the age of 112, two months short of his 113th birthday.

Yasutaro Koide was born on March 13, 1903, and said his secret for a long life was not to overdo it, or drink or smoke.

A native of Nagoya, Mr Koide worked as a tailor when he was younger. He became the world's oldest man in August.

The ministry of health, labour and welfare said he died early on Tuesday at a nursing home.

In Japan, 111-year-old Tokyo native Masamitsu Yoshida, born on May 30, 1904, succeeds Mr Koide as the oldest man. It was not immediately known whether Mr Yoshida is also the world's oldest male.

The world's oldest person is an American woman, 116-year-old Susannah Mushatt Jones of Brooklyn, New York.

PA Media