AFP, TOKYO: A 96-year-old Japanese man is potty at the prospect of breaking more records after being recognised as the world’s oldest university graduate with his degree in ceramic arts.
Spritely senior Shigemi Hirata received his Guinness World Records certificate on Friday after earning a Bachelor of Arts degree in ceramics from Kyoto University of Art and Design in March, local media reported Saturday.
Born on a Hiroshima farm in 1919 -- the year of the first non-stop transatlantic flight and the signing of the Treaty of Versailles—Hirata is something of a celebrity on campus.
“Students whose name I don’t even know call out to greet me,” he told Japan’s Yomiuri newspaper.
“That gives me a lot of energy. It looks like it’s my fate to live a long life. I’ve been blessed with the people around me.”