Japan sets centenarian record

IN MID-JULY, the Japanese government announced that Chiyo Miyako, the oldest person in the world, had died at the age of 117. Her title would likely not have to travel far, however: Another Japanese woman, the 115-year-old Kane Tanaka, was expected to become the oldest women in the world in her place.

New information released by the Japanese health ministry suggests that there may be more Japanese women who will take the record in the future. The ministry announced yesterday that the number of Japanese citizens who were over 100 years old had risen to reach 69 785. Of that number, more than 88% are women.

The figure is an increase of more than 2 000 centenarians from last year and a dramatic increase from 1963, when Japan started collecting data on those who had lived past 100. Back then, there were just 153.

Japan celebrates the lives of its centenarians. Monday will be a public holiday known as the Respect for the Aged Day, when those who have reached the 100-year mark will receive a letter of congratulations from the prime minister, Shinzo Abe, and a commemorative sake cup.

The median age in Japan is 47.3, according to US government figures. That makes it the second oldest country in the world, after Monaco, with low birth rates leading to a shrinking population.

There are concerns about the economic burden that this rapidly aging population will place on Japan. Many expect the elderly to suffer under budget cuts in the future, with pension benefits delayed to the age of 68.

The Japanese government has pushed the idea of a “100-year-life” where the elderly continue to contribute to society.

“Being 70 years old today is like reaching one’s sixtiess or fifties,” Abe said at an event last year.