A group of 178 males called Tanaka Hirokazu met in Tokyo to break the Guinness World Record for the largest gathering of people with the same name. The record was organized by the Tanaka Hirokazu association. This group was started in 1994 after Tanaka Hirokazu saw his namesake drafted into a Japanese baseball team. Ex-baseball player Tanaka Hirokazu was also part of Saturday's record. The record holders range in age from three years old to 80.

Tanaka Hirokazu, 53, was very happy with the world record. His two previous attempts failed because the association wanted everyone to have the same Chinese characters in their name. Saturday's meeting was more relaxed. Anyone with the name Hirokazu Tanaka could join, regardless of the Chinese characters. Mr Tanaka told reporters: "I never expected we would achieve such a ridiculous record." He said the 178 Tanakas had "set an example of silliness".