Japan's Centenarian Population Nears 100,000, Increasing for 55 Consecutive Years

Women Outnumber Men 7.3 to 1... Oldest Person is a 114-Year-Old Woman

(Tokyo = Yonhap News) Reporter Gyeong Su-hyun = The number of centenarians in Japan has increased for 55 consecutive years, nearing 100,000, local media reported on the 12th.

As of September 1st, ahead of Respect for the Aged Day (September 15th), the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare's count of individuals aged 100 and over was 99,736, an increase of 4,644 from the previous year.

This marks the 55th consecutive year of increase in the centenarian population.

Scene of downtown Tokyo, Japan [EPA Yonhap News file photo. Reproduction and database prohibited]

The Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare has been tracking the centenarian population annually ahead of Respect for the Aged Day since 1963. The number surpassed 1,000 in 1981, exceeded 10,000 in 1998, and surpassed 50,000 in 2012.

Among centenarians, women account for 87,784, which is 7.3 times the number of men (11,979).

There are 80.58 centenarians per 100,000 people.

The oldest centenarian is Ms. Shigeko Kagawa, 114 years old, residing in Nara Prefecture. Among men, Mr. Kiyotaka Mizuno, 111 years old, from Shizuoka Prefecture, is the oldest.

The Yomiuri Shimbun reported that "backgrounded by advances in medical care and improved health awareness, the number of elderly people living past 100 is continuously increasing." It also projected that the number of individuals turning 100 or already over 100 in fiscal year 2025 (April 2025 - March 2026) will be 52,310, an increase of 4,422 from fiscal year 2024.