Japan’s Centenarians Reach 99,763, Breaking Record for 55 Yrs in Row

Jiji Press

13:45 JST, September 12, 2025

Tokyo, Sept. 12 (Jiji Press) — The number of centenarians in Japan reached 99,763 as of Sept. 1, hitting a new record high for the 55th consecutive year, the health ministry said Friday.

The ministry compiled the figure based on basic resident register data. Of the total, which went up by 4,644 from a year earlier, women accounted for 87,784, or about 88 pct.

The number of centenarians in the country stood at 153 in 1963, when the statistics started. The total topped 1,000 in 1981, 10,000 in 1998, 50,000 in 2012 and 90,000 in 2022, before approaching 100,000 this year.

Japan had 80.58 centenarians per 100,000 population as of Sept. 1. By prefecture, the rate was highest in Shimane at 168.69, with the western prefecture topping the rankings for 13 years in a row. Kochi and Tottori followed at 157.16 and 144.63, respectively. Saitama saw the lowest rate of 48.50, after Aichi and Osaka with rates of 53.00 and 55.44 respectively.

The oldest person in Japan is Shigeko Kagawa, a 114-year-old woman living in the city of Yamatokoriyama in the western prefecture of Nara. The oldest man is Kiyotaka Mizuno, a 111-year-old resident of the city of Iwata in the central prefecture of Shizuoka. Reona Esaki, who received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1973, turned 100 in March.

The number of people turning 100 during fiscal 2025 through next March stands at 52,310. Japan gives congratulatory letters and silver cups to new centenarians.