Jamaine Punzalan

Article (news)

Agence France-Presse

<div><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1757661610951Screenshot 2025-09-12 at 3.20.01 PM.png" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib"/>Christian Mirone, Unsplash </div>The number of people aged 100 or older in Japan has hit a record high of nearly 100,000, with almost 90 percent of them women, ministry data showed on Friday.The figures underscore the demographic crisis gripping the world&#x27;s fourth-biggest economy as its population ages and shrinks.As of September 1, Japan had 99,763 centenarians, up 4,644 year-on-year, with 88 percent of them women, the health ministry said in a statement.Japan&#x27;s oldest person is 114-year-old Shigeko Kagawa in the Nara region near Kyoto.She remained active past 80 years old as an obstetrician-gynecologist and a general doctor, according to the ministry.&quot;Walking extensively during house calls built strong legs, which are the source of my current vitality,&quot; Kagawa was cited as saying in the statement.She still has good eyesight so she spends the day watching TV, reading newspapers and doing calligraphy.The world&#x27;s oldest person is British woman Ethel Caterham, who turned 116 in August, months after the title passed to her following the death of Brazilian nun <a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/world/2025/5/1/world-s-oldest-person-a-brazilian-nun-dies-aged-116-0820?fbclid=IwY2xjawMwqUxleHRuA2FlbQIxMABicmlkETF1bGx0UnZPdkp5bDJtbkpHAR5dt3rDrYEBN5z7iZxshKPj6elFbKwxjmBt3K3SNs1jDJL8EbkEX1WBtdRWaQ_aem_YuMZuexlEn_rIZevM7SE6A">Inah Canabarro Lucas</a>.Japan is facing a steadily worsening population crisis, as its expanding elderly population leads to soaring medical and welfare costs, with a shrinking labour force to pay for it.Official data last month showed that the population of Japanese nationals fell by a record amount -- more than 900,000 people -- in 2024.Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba has called the situation a &quot;quiet emergency&quot;, pledging family-friendly measures such as more flexible working hours and free day care to try and reverse the trend.However, the government&#x27;s efforts to slow the decline and ageing of its population have yet to yield meaningful results.

The number of people aged 100 or older in Japan has hit a record high of nearly 100,000, with almost 90 percent of them women, ministry data showed on Friday.

The number of people aged 100 or older in Japan has hit a record high of nearly 100,000, with almost 90 percent of them women, ministry data showed on Friday.

Japan centenarians reach record high at nearly 100,000

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Japan centenarians reach record high at nearly 100,000

Agence France-Presse

Published September 12, 2025 03:22 PM PHT

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Japan

aging population

centenarians

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