Chuganji, who was the 6th Japanese man to become a supercentenarian as well as the oldest living Japanese man after Sadayoshi Tanabe's death on 18 January 2000 and later the third Japanese man to become at least 112 years old as well as the oldest Japanese man ever after surpassing both Gengan Tonaki and Denzo Ishizaki, was the oldest living man in the world after the death of Italian World War I-veteran Antonio Todde on 3 January 2002, the same day as he became Japan's oldest living person after Matsuno Oikawa's death, and later also the oldest living person in the world after Americanwoman Mae Harrington on 29 December 2002. On 23 March 2003, Chuganji became the first Japanese man, as well as the third man in the world and the first since Christian Mortensen's death almost 5 years earlier, to reach age 114.