Masazo Nonaka, world's oldest living man, dies at 113 in Hokkaido

At the time of being confirmed the world's oldest man by Guinness World Records in April previous year, Mr Nonaka was still able to move around by himself in a wheelchair.

Guinness officially recognized Nonaka as the oldest living man after the death of Spaniard Francisco Nunez Olivera a year ago.

The world's oldest man has died at his home in northern Japan at the age of 113.

That's according to Japanese media reports that say he passed away in the early hours of Sunday morning.

"We feel shocked at the loss of this big figure", his granddaughter Yuko said. His doctor confirmed that Nonaka had died.

He grew up in a large family and succeeded his parents in running a hot spring inn, which his granddaughter, Yuko Nonaka, later took over.

Nonaka lived at home in Ashoro with his family.

His wife, with whom Nonaka had two sons and three daughters, died in 1992.

During the Guinness World Records ceremony, he was offered cake but could only eat the whipped cream as he was not able to eat solid food.

His family said he spent his time enjoying hot springs at their inn, watching sumo wrestling on television and eating candies.

The oldest ever living man was Jiroemon Kimura, a Japanese man who lived to be 116 years and 54 days old before his death in June 2013.

The oldest verified person - the French woman Jeanne Louise Calment - died in 1997 at the age of 122, according to Guinness World Records.