Japan now has more than 100,000 people aged 100 or older

The number of people aged 100 or older in Japan has crossed 100,000 for the first time, reaching a record 107,677 and offering another striking measure of the country’s rapidly ageing population.

The number of centenarians rose by 7,914 from a year earlier, marking the 56th consecutive year of increase, Kyodo News reported on Tuesday, citing data from Japan’s Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry.

The figures were compiled from Japan’s basic resident register as of September 1.

Women overwhelmingly dominate the country’s centenarian population. Japan now has 94,298 women aged 100 or above, accounting for 87.6% of the total.

The number of male centenarians stands at 13,379.

Compared with a year earlier, the number of women aged 100 or above increased by 6,514, while the number of men rose by 1,400, according to the ministry data.

The increase has accelerated sharply. In September 2025, Japan had 99,763 centenarians, itself a record at the time, meaning the country has added almost 8,000 people to the group in a single year. 

Another 54,294 people are expected to celebrate their 100th birthdays during fiscal 2026, Kyodo reported. That would be 1,984 more new centenarians than in the previous fiscal year.

The latest figures put the average number of centenarians in Japan at 87.51 for every 100,000 people.

The scale of the demographic shift becomes clearer when compared with the first years of record-keeping.

Japan had only 153 people aged 100 or older in 1963, when the government began collecting the data. By 1970, the number had risen to 310.

It crossed 1,000 for the first time in 1981 and reached 10,000 in 1998. The number passed 50,000 in 2012 and has now more than doubled in 14 years.

The oldest woman currently living in Japan is Fuyo Kishimoto, a Kyoto resident who is 114. She was born on December 20, 1911.

Japan’s oldest man is Hikaru Kato, 112, from the southwestern prefecture of Kumamoto. He was born on May 2, 1914, according to Kyodo.

The centenarian milestone comes as Japan continues to record some of the world’s highest life expectancies.

Average life expectancy for Japanese women rose to 87.33 years in 2025, while that for men reached 81.35 years. Both figures increased from the previous year — by 0.20 years for women and 0.25 years for men. 

But the growth in extreme longevity is also part of a much broader demographic challenge facing Japan.

Longer lives have coincided with decades of low birth rates, leaving the country with a shrinking population and an increasingly large share of elderly residents. More than 29% of Japan’s population is already aged 65 or older, making ageing a defining economic and social policy issue for the country. 

The trend is putting increasing pressure on Japan’s pension, healthcare and elderly-care systems while reducing the size of its working-age population.

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