TOKYO, Sept 16 (NNN-NHK) – The number of centenarians in Japan totalled 92,139, hitting a record high for the 53rd consecutive year, official data showed, yesterday.
The figure as of yesterday rose by 1,613 from a year before, the Health, Labour and Welfare Ministry said, prior to the country’s celebration of its Respect for the Aged Day next Monday.
Of the total population aged 100 or older, the number of women was 81,589, accounting for 88.5 percent of the total, while male centenarians reached 10,550, according to the ministry.
The oldest woman in the country was 116-year-old Fusa Tatsumi from Osaka prefecture, while the oldest man was Gisaburo Sonobe, 111, from Chiba prefecture.
As of yesterday, Japan had an average of 73.74 centenarians per 100,000 population.
The country had 153 centenarians in 1963, the most distant year for which statistics were available. The figure exceeded 1,000 in 1981, 10,000 in 1998 and 50,000 in 2012.– NNN-NHK
