A 59-year-old Japanese psychiatric counselor set a world record of sorts on Sunday by reciting ”pi,” or the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter, to 83 431 digits.
”I thank you all for your support,” Akira Haraguchi told reporters and onlookers when he finished the overnight 13-hour feat at a public hall in Kisarazu in Tokyo’s southern suburbs at 1.26am.
The ratio is about 3,14159.
According to the authoritative Guinness Book of World Records, the previous record for reciting pi from memory — 42 195 digits — was set by a then Japanese university student in 1995.
Haraguchi had already recited the ratio up to about 54 000 digits last September but was forced to end the attempt when his time ran out at the facility hosting the event.
There was no time limit set for the hall where he achieved the new record which he said would be submitted for recognition by the Guinness Book of World Records. – Sapa-AFP