Japan Now Has Over 100,000 People Aged 100 or Older for the First Time

Japan has reached a rather extraordinary longevity milestone, as the number of people living in the country who are at least 100 years old has surpassed 100,000 for the first time, and nearly nine out of every ten of them are women.

According to figures from Japan’s Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare , the country had 107,677 centenarians as of September 1, 2026. That’s an increase of 7,914 compared to the previous year and represents the 56th consecutive year in which Japan has set a new record.

Women make up the overwhelming majority, with 94,298 female centenarians compared to 13,379 men, meaning women account for approximately 87.6 percent of the total.

The numbers have come an astonishingly long way since Japan began collecting the statistics. There were just 153 people aged 100 or older in 1963. That figure passed 1,000 in 1981, 10,000 in 1998 and 50,000 in 2012 before finally breaking the six-digit barrier this year.

Japan’s oldest woman is currently Fuyo Kishimoto, a 114-year-old Kyoto resident who was born in December 1911. The country’s oldest man is Hikaru Kato of Kumamoto, who turned 112 in May. Kishimoto is also reportedly the last living Japanese person born during the Meiji era, which ended in 1912.

Japan’s Health Minister Kenichiro Ueno cited advances in medical technology alongside healthier lifestyles and diets as factors contributing to the country’s longevity. The milestone nevertheless arrives as Japan continues wrestling with the other side of its aging population: fewer births and a shrinking workforce supporting an increasingly elderly population.

Though naturally, the more pressing part of this news is the dwindling younger Japanese population, and many fear Japan may become like many western countries, who are getting their population replaced by immigrants.