Centenarians in Japan

Picture of Chiyono Hasegawa, currently Japan's oldest person

Japanese people are renowned for their healthy diet consisting mainly of rice, fish and seaweed, and this has contributed to longevity.

Reports in July of finding the oldest living male in Tokyo dead for the past 30 years sent ripples in the Japanese community as ward officials were updating the centenarians list ahead of Japan’s Respect for the Elderly Day (September 18). Across Japan, there were a number of elderly people who were not living in the stated address in the resident registry.

On Monday, according to the latest survey, the oldest person is Chiyono Hasegawa, 113, of Kiyama, Saga Prefecture and the oldest male is the same as last year—Jirouemon Kimura, 113, of Kyotango, Kyoto Prefecture, who was born April 19, 1897.

According to Japan Today, the number of centenarians in Japan have reached around 44,000 this year which is a big difference since 1963, when the survey began and centenarians only totalled 153.