The number of Japanese people hitting the landmark age of 100 has reached record levels… there are now 36,276 centenarians in the country according to a recent report by the Japanese government.
Japan’s oldest woman is 113 and lives on the southern island of Okinawa; while the oldest man is Tomoji Tanabe who celebrates his 113th birthday last week.
According to 2007 statistics, Okinawa has the largest proportion of centenarians (by prefecture) with 57.89 per 100,000 people, followed by Kochi, Shimane, Kumamoto and Ehime prefectures. Okinawa has been maintaining the top position for the 35th consecutive year (could be 36th in 2008).
Saitama Prefecture has the lowest proportion with 13.05 per 100,000 people, staying last for the 18th year in a row, followed by Aichi, Chiba, Aomori and Kanagawa prefectures.
Btw, Japanese might be the longest living people in the world on average, but they don’t have the largest population of centenarians… the title belongs to USA instead.
US reported a number of 50,454 centenarians in 2001 and the stat is expected to rise continuously. The current world’s oldest living person is from USA as well… she is Edna Parker from the State of Indiana; she is 115.
[With reference from BBC, Japantimes and Wiki]
