Japan reaches a unique milestone, with more than 100,000 people age 100 or older
By HISAKO UENO and TIFFANY MAY
There are now more than 100,000 centenarians in Japan, a record for a country famous for its longevity.
Japan’s Health Ministry released data Tuesday showing that there are now 107,677 people who are at least 100 years old, an increase of nearly 8,000 since last year. The oldest woman, Fuyo Kishimoto from Kyoto, is 114 and the oldest man, Hikaru Kato from Kumamoto, is 112. Women make up the vast majority of the group, at 88%.
Japan’s health minister, Kenichiro Ueno, welcomed the news Tuesday, and pledged to build a strong social security system that supports the elderly in living long and healthy lives. “I am very happy that so many people have been able to stay active for so long,” he said at a news conference in Tokyo.
Stuart Gietel-Basten, a professor of social science at Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, said the long lives of many Japanese could be attributed to healthy diet, active daily routines and an affordable health system with regular checkups.
Women are overrepresented as centenarians because many men of that generation died in World War II, and those who survived smoked and drank more than women, he said. Men are also more likely to be involved in industrial work, which could have long-term health effects. Many men became isolated after retirement or the loss of a spouse, he added, and women tended to be more engaged in their communities, which improved their mental health.
Tetsuo Sato, 106, is one of the 100,000, living in the rice-growing village of Osonogo in the mountainous Niigata prefecture with his son, daughter-in-law, dog and cat.
Hard of hearing and visually impaired, Sato fills his days by making notebooks from old calendars and wrapping paper. He also tells stories about his experiences fighting in the Battle of Imphal during World War II.
His daughter-in-law, Kuniko Sato, 68, said he was determined to be self-sufficient and continued to bathe himself without help.
“When I injured my leg last year, Grandpa started washing his own rice bowls,” she said. “We ended up caring for each other in our old age.”
As well as a rapidly aging population, Japan is grappling with one of the lowest birthrates in the world, a predicament that Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi has called a “quiet emergency.”
Japan’s population peaked at 128 million in 2008, and is projected to drop to 87 million by 2070, according to government projections. The country now has roughly the same number of people as it did in 1989. For every new birth in the country, there are two deaths.
The demographic crisis poses challenges for the government, as it drives up the tax burden on a shrinking workforce. For decades, Japanese authorities have tried to rebalance the rapidly aging population by encouraging couples to have more children, to little avail.
Some experts argue that Japan needs to allow more immigrants to offset the population decline. But a wave of nationalist sentiment has recently swept the country, with some activists calling for even stricter controls as part of a “Japan First” movement.
At the same time, the country’s centenarians are determined to remain active. Some are even still working.
In two days, Tetsuo Sato will turn 107. More than a dozen members of his family plan to celebrate at a traditional hot spring hotel, where they hope to photograph the four generations gathered together.
Kuniko Sato said her father-in-law “seems to feel a sense of responsibility, believing that a parent must always look out for their children, he likely feels he needs to stay strong and capable.”
“His original goal was to live to 100, but now he aims to reach 110,” she added.
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