A recent government survey has found that Japan is home to over 80,000 centenarians — those who are 100 years old or older.
The survey found that there were 80,450 people aged 100 or older in the country, with 88.2% being female. That is the highest number of centenarians that Japan has ever had, with over 9,000 more than last year.
Only the US has more people aged 100 and older. According to the US Census Bureau, the country had 82,000 centenarians in 2016, and that number is now thought to be about 92,000.
According to Guinness World Records, Japan is also home to the world’s oldest living person: Kane Tanaka of Fukuoka, who turned 117 years old on January 2. NHK World-Japan says Tanaka believes it is important to eat nice food to have a longer life, and to do math to keep your brain working.
The world’s oldest ever man, Jiroemon Kimura, was also from Japan. He was 116 years, 54 days old when he died in 2013.
The world’s oldest ever woman was Jeanne Louise Calment of France, who died in 1997 at 122 years, 164 days.
According to the Statistics Bureau of Japan, a record 28.4% of people in the country were 65 or older in 2019. However, just 12.1% were children 14 years or younger, and the number of people in the country has been declining since 1993.
