Japan's oldest serving mayor, Shigemasa Igawa, 82, secured his fourth term Sunday without a vote in the mayoral election in Kudamatsu, Yamaguchi Prefecture, the city's election board said.

Igawa, who has served as mayor of the western Japan city since defeating the then 82-year-old incumbent in April 2000, told reporters, "It is the best day of my life." Asked if he will work until he is 100 years old, he said, laughing, "I don't know."

Japan's oldest-ever mayor since 1955, when data became available, was Toshitaka Takii, who served as mayor of Tagawa, Fukuoka Prefecture, until retiring in 2003 at the age of 88, according to the Japan Association of City Mayors.