TOKYO, Sep 13, 2005 (Kyodo via COMTEX) -- Centenarians in Japan will number a
record 25,606 by the end of this month, surpassing last year's previous high by
more than 2,568, the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare said Tuesday ahead of
next Monday's Respect for the Aged Day, a national holiday.
Women continue to make up the vast majority of centenarians, accounting for 85
percent, and topping 20,000 for the first time.
For the first time, there will be more than 20 centenarians per 100,000 people
-- at 20.05 precisely -- making up one in every 5,000 people.
Yone Minagawa, a woman from Akaike, Fukuoka Prefecture, is the oldest person in
Japan at 112. The oldest man is 110-year-old Nijiro Tokuda, the nation's
13th-oldest person, who lives in the city of Kagoshima.
Centenarians numbered 153 in 1963 in Japan when the government started counting
them. The number had grown to over 1,000 by 1981 and exceeded 10,000 in 1998.
In the past year, the number has grown at a rate of more than 10 percent over
the preceding year.
By prefecture, Okinawa has the largest proportion of centenarians with 51.43 per
100,000 people, maintaining the top position for the 33rd straight year. Saitama
has the lowest proportion with 9.81 per 100,000.
In fiscal 2005, which ends next March 31, a record 12,703 people, including 34
who live outside Japan, are expected to join the ranks of Japanese centenarians,
up 792 from the previous year, according to the ministry.
Of those, an estimated 2,142 will be men, and 10,561 women, topping the
10,000-threshold for the first time.
Minagawa lives in Keijuen, a special nursing home in her native Akaike. After
her husband died, she raised her five children by selling flowers and vegetables
at a coal mine.
Minagawa, who became Japan's oldest person in April, sometimes makes others
laugh by telling lighthearted jokes. She loves festive occasions and attends
birthday parties and other recreational events at the nursing home. She eats
well every day at the canteen and reads newspapers and letters from her family
members.
"She is aging in an excellent way. She is respected by our staff members and
other residents of the facility," said Shigeko Tachibana, head of the nursing
home.
Tokuda lives in a care house, Sakura no Sono, in Kagoshima. Though he uses a
walking aid since breaking his foot about 10 years ago, he is an avid
photographer and has taken pictures of summer festivals with his camera of 20 or
more years.
Tokuda walks to the canteen three times a day. He also went out in a wheelchair
to vote early last Friday in Sunday's general election.
Asked about the secrets of longevity, he said, "It is important not to strain
yourself. You can live a long life if you stay quiet and calm."
According to the Guinness Book of World Records, a 115-year-old American woman
is the oldest person in the world.
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