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World record gathering of people with same name

First and Last Name - Level 4

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".

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First and Last Name - Level 5

A group of 178 men called Tanaka Hirokazu met in Tokyo on Saturday to break the Guinness World Record for the largest gathering of people with the same name. The successful attempt was organized by the Tanaka Hirokazu association. This group was started by Tanaka Hirokazu (surprise, surprise) in 1994. He was inspired by seeing his namesake drafted into a Japanese baseball team. Ex-baseball player Tanaka Hirokazu was also part of Saturday's record. The 178 new record holders span the generations. The youngest is three, the eldest is 80.

Tanaka Hirokazu, 53, was very happy with breaking the world record. His two previous attempts (in 2011 and 2017) failed because the association wanted participants to have the same Chinese characters in their name. Saturday's meeting had a more relaxed rule. Anyone with the name Hirokazu Tanaka was eligible, regardless of the Chinese characters used to spell the name. Mr Tanaka told reporters: "I never expected we would achieve such a ridiculous record." He added that the 178 Tanakas had "set an example of silliness".

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First and Last Name - Level 6

A group of 178 men all sharing the name Tanaka Hirokazu convened in Tokyo on Saturday to break the Guinness World Record for the largest gathering of people with the same first and last name. The successful record attempt was organized by the Tanaka Hirokazu association. This group was established by a guy called Tanaka Hirokazu (surprise, surprise) in 1994. Mr Tanaka's inspiration came from seeing a namesake of his drafted into a professional Japanese baseball team. Ex-baseball player Tanaka Hirokazu was also part of Saturday's record meeting. The 178 new record holders span the generations, with the youngest being three years old, and the eldest being an octogenarian.

Association leader Tanaka Hirokazu, 53, was elated at breaking the world record. His association had tried twice before, in 2011 and 2017, to break the record. These attempts were thwarted largely because of the association's insistence on all participants having to have the same Chinese characters (kanji) in their name. Saturday's meeting had a more lenient criterion. The association deemed that anyone with the name Hirokazu Tanaka was eligible, regardless of the kanji used to spell their name. Mr Tanaka reflected on his world-beating achievement. He told reporters: "I never expected we would achieve such a ridiculous record." He added that the 178 Tanakas had "set an example of silliness".

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