The number of Japanese aged 100 or older at the end of this month will probably hit a record 15,475, with women accounting for more than 80 percent of the number, according to a survey released Tuesday by the health ministry.
The Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry issued its count of centenarians prior to Saturday's Respect for the Aged Day national holiday.
According to the survey there have been 10,067 Japanese centenarians who lived in the 19th, 20th and 21st centuries. They were born before Dec. 31, 1900.
The current tally of centenarians is up 2,439 from last year. It also represented a 50 percent increase from 1998, when it topped 10,000 for the first time since the survey started in 1963.
In the latest survey, women accounted for 83.6 percent of the total. There were 12,934 women and 2,541 men. The number of centenarians per 100,000 people reached a high of 12.19.
By prefecture, Okinawa once again topped the list for the most centenarians per 100,000. It had 34.67, followed by Shimane at 30.18 and Kochi at 28.62. By contrast, Saitama had the least number of centenarians for the 12th straight year at 5.48, followed by Aichi and Aomori.
Topping the oldest person list for the third year in a row was Kamato Hongo, a Kagoshima resident who turns 114 on Sunday. Next were Matsuno Oikawa of Iwate Prefecture and Yukichi Chuganji of Fukuoka Prefecture. Both are 112 years old.