World record: Largest group of people with the same name!

Image source, TOMOHIRO OSAKI

Image caption, Booking for Hirokazu Tanaka? 178 people with the same name met up in this Japanese theatre

If your name is Hirokazu Tanaka you might be part of a very special club - a huge group of people with that exact name smashed a world record at the weekend!

178 different people, all named Hirokazu Tanaka, met up in Tokyo on Saturday.

They broke the world record for the most people with the same name meeting up in one place.

The record had not been broken since it was set in 2005 by 164 Martha Stewarts.

Breaking the record

Image source, TOMOHIRO OSAKI

Image caption, They had their name on their t-shirts, along with a special number for each of them

People from as far as Hanoi, in Vietnam, travelled to Japan for the special meet-up in Tokyo.

The group of 178 Hirokazu Tamakas included a toddler and an 80-year-old.

They all wore t-shirts with their names written on, and met in a theatre in the capital city.

According to the Guinness World Record rules, the group had to sit in the same place for five minutes before it could be officially counted.

The group had been trying for a while to break the record and had two failed attempts before this successful one.

The Tamaka Hirokazu campaign

Image source, visualspace

Image caption, The men met up in the busy Shibuya district of Tokyo, in Japan

One Hirokazu Tamaka, aged 53, set up the Tamaka Hirokazu group to try and get them all together.

There were a few hurdles to get over to make sure they broke the record properly - including ensuring everyone used the same spelling for their names, or the attempt would fail!

In the special group, they have nicknames to remember each other, based on their interests.

These names include "Chewing Gum", "Triathlon" and "Hot Pot".

The group had originally planned to meet up at the same time as the Tokyo Olympic games, but it was postponed due to the pandemic.