Japan Sets Record as Centenarians Near 100,000
Japan has once again broken its own record, with the number of people aged 100 and above hitting 99,763 as of September 2025, according to the Ministry of Health. This marks the 55th consecutive year the country has seen a rise in centenarians.
Women make up the overwhelming majority, accounting for 88 percent of the total, with 87,784 female centenarians compared to 11,979 men. Japan’s oldest citizen is 114-year-old Shigeko Kagawa from Yamatokoriyama, Nara Prefecture, while the oldest man is 111-year-old Kiyotaka Mizuno from Iwata.
Health Minister Takamaro Fukoka praised the milestone, expressing gratitude to the elderly population for their decades of contribution to society. The announcement comes just days before Elderly Day on September 15, when new centenarians traditionally receive a silver cup and congratulatory letter from the prime minister. In 2025, 52,310 individuals qualified for this recognition.
Japan’s achievement is remarkable considering that in 1963, when the government began tracking centenarians, there were only 153 people over 100. That number reached 1,000 by 1981 and 10,000 by 1998. Today, Japan not only boasts the world’s longest life expectancy but is also among the fastest ageing societies globally.
Experts attribute the longevity trend to healthy diets low in red meat and high in fish and vegetables, low obesity rates, and active lifestyles. Public health campaigns, particularly those urging reduced salt consumption, have also played a key role. Cultural practices such as Radio Taiso—a daily group exercise introduced in 1928—continue to keep older generations physically active and socially connected.
However, the reliability of centenarian statistics worldwide has been questioned. A 2010 audit in Japan revealed over 230,000 centenarians listed as alive in family registries who were unaccounted for, with many having died decades earlier. Authorities attributed this to poor record-keeping and, in some cases, families concealing deaths to keep collecting pensions.
Despite these issues, Japan’s population of confirmed centenarians continues to rise, cementing the country’s reputation as a global leader in longevity.
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Japan Sets Record as Centenarians Near 100,000