Japanese man grows extra-lucky 63-leaf clover

June 20 (UPI) -- A Japanese man borrowed some of the luck of the Irish and broke a Guinness World Record by growing a 63-leaf clover.

Yoshiharu Watanabe, 45, started cross-pollinating clovers at his Nasushiobara home in 2012 with an aim toward breaking the world record.

"Since the number of leaves has increased year by year, I have been aiming for the Guinness World Records title ever since," he told Guinness World Records.

Watanabe said he used a combination of letting his clover patches pollinate naturally and hand-pollinating those with the most leaves. He said his methods weren't always successful.

"Sometimes the number of leaves can go down, or sometimes you end up with the normal three-leaf clover," he said. "We know that genetics are involved in a higher number of leaves, yet we don't exactly know how it works."

Watanabe's prize clover has 63 leaves, beating the previous record of 56 leaves, set by fellow Japan resident Shigeo Obara in 2009.

He said he was overjoyed to discover his clover had taken the record.

"People say that a four-leaved clover brings you happiness, so it would be great if this 63-leaved clover would bring surprise and pleasure to people," he said.