Japan’s Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare released new figures on September 12 showing that as of September 1, the country has 99,763 centenarians. That’s 4,644 more than last year. Looking back, when the Elderly Welfare Act was introduced in 1963, there were only 153 people over 100. By 1981 the number passed 1,000, in 1998 it topped 10,000, and now Japan is closing in on the 100,000 mark.
The ministry also published a ranking of prefectures based on the number of centenarians per 100,000 residents. This has become a key measure of regional longevity.
Top 10 prefectures with the highest longevity:
1. Shimane: 168.69 (No.1 for 13 years straight)
2. Kochi: 157.16
3. Tottori: 144.63
4. Kagoshima: 136.49
5. Nagano: 133.92
6. Kumamoto: 132.82
7. Yamaguchi: 125.37
8. Nagasaki: 125.16
9. Ehime: 122.49
10. Oita: 121.94
Bottom three prefectures:
45. Osaka: 55.44
46. Aichi: 53.00
47. Saitama: 48.50 (last place for 36 years in a row)
Nationwide, the average is 80.58 centenarians per 100,000 people. The gender split is striking—just 12% are men, while women make up 88%.
Other prefectures ranked by centenarians per 100,000 residents:
11. Niigata: 120.91
12. Yamagata: 118.60
13. Miyazaki: 118.59
14. Yamanashi: 116.18
15. Saga: 112.82
16. Kagawa: 112.43
17. Iwate: 112.14
18. Tokushima: 110.95
19. Wakayama: 109.20
20. Toyama: 107.32
21. Akita: 107.25
22. Hiroshima: 105.53
23. Fukui: 103.11
24. Okayama: 103.00
25. Fukushima: 102.93
26. Hokkaido: 102.26
27. Ishikawa: 92.71
28. Nara: 90.12
29. Gifu: 89.04
30. Kyoto: 87.66
31. Shizuoka: 85.77
32. Mie: 84.69
33. Gunma: 84.55
34. Fukuoka: 84.35
35. Aomori: 82.32
36. Miyagi: 81.32
37. Okinawa: 77.56
38. Hyogo: 76.99
39. Tochigi: 75.38
40. Ibaraki: 74.70
41. Shiga: 73.18
42. Kanagawa: 58.38
43. Tokyo: 57.48
44. Chiba: 57.27
