World's oldest living man, age 112, dies in Japan

The man who held the world record for being the oldest living man died over the weekend in Japan, officials said.

According to USA Today, Chitetsu Watanabe, of Niigata, died Sunday, less than two weeks after Guinness World Records confirmed that the 112-year-old was the oldest man alive.

Watanabe, who was born March 5, 1907, previously said he had lived so long because he didn't get angry and tried to keep a smile on his face, the organization said.

He recently had been fighting a fever, stopped eating and began to have a hard time breathing, USA Today reported, citing Japan's Mainichi newspaper.

Officials have not said what caused his death, according to USA Today.

The oldest living woman in the world, 117-year-old Kane Tanaka, also is Japanese, the newspaper reported.