The number of centenarians in Japan has passed 100,000 for the first time, with health ministry figures showing 107,677 people aged 100 or older, the highest total of any country. Health Minister Kenichiro Ueno welcomed the milestone as evidence of longer, healthier lives thanks to medical and technological progress, but cautioned that it adds to the strain on Japan's social security system as the population continues to age rapidly.

Of the centenarians, 88% are women; the oldest woman is 114-year-old Kishimoto Fuyo of Kyoto, and the oldest man is 112-year-old Kato Hikaru of Kumamoto. Experts attribute Japan's longevity partly to diet (fish, vegetables and rice) and active lifestyles, though numbers have also been questioned in the past after a 2010 audit found over 230,000 unaccounted-for "centenarians" in family registries. The figures come amid wider demographic strain: Japan's fertility rate fell to a record low of 1.14 last year, the population is projected to shrink to 87 million by 2070, and officials, including the prime minister, have described the trend as a "quiet emergency".