By KYOSUKE YAMAMOTO/ Staff Writer
September 16, 2020 at 16:38 JST
Kane Tanaka, 117, Japan's oldest person, receives a congratulations card made of chocolate, her favorite sweet, in Fukuoka on Sept. 15. (Provided by the Fukuoka city government)
Japan's citizens aged 100 or over topped 80,000 for the first time, as the nation marked its annual Rojin-no-Hi (Day for the aged) on Sept. 15, hitting 80,450.
Most of the centenarians were women, clocking in at 70,975, accounting for roughly 88 percent of the total, according to the health ministry.
Centenarians jumped by 9,176 from a year earlier, breaking records for the 50th year in a row since 1971 when there were only 339.
Though the annual number in recent years had been rising by between 2,000 and 4,000, this time it was pushed up sharply due to the large number of births in 1920.
Japan's total population was 125.93 million as of Aug. 1, with roughly 0.06 percent aged 100 or over.
Fukuoka resident Kane Tanaka, 117, is currently Japan's oldest woman. Mikizo Ueda, 110, the country's oldest man, resides in Nara.
The health ministry also released data comparing the numbers of centenarians per 100,000 people among the nation's 47 prefectures.
Shimane Prefecture had the highest number of centenarians per 100,000 people for the eighth year in a row, with 127.60.
It was followed by Kochi Prefecture with 119.77 and Tottori with 109.89.
On the other hand, Saitama Prefecture reported 40.01 centenarians, logging the lowest number for 31 straight years.
It was followed by Aichi Prefecture with 41.79 and Chiba with 45.98.
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