The number of people over 100 in Japan has surpassed 90,000 for the first time, mostly women, a record number for the 52nd consecutive year.
According to statistics from the Ministry of Health, there are 90,526 centenarians living in the country, 4,000 more than in 2021, and 90% of them are women.
The number has been increasing steadily since the early 1970s, when the number of people over 100 was just over 300.
Currently, the oldest woman in Japan is Fusa Tatsumi, who is 115 and lives in Osaka, while the man who tops the list by seniority is Shigeru Nakamura, 111, a Hiroshima citizen.
According to the ministry, another 45,000 people are expected to turn 100 by the end of March, including Japanese citizens living abroad and foreigners with residence permits in Japan who have apparently obtained the secret of the elixir of life.