A recent survey of life expectancy around the world found that Japanese women no longer have the longest life span. That honor has been taken over by Hong Kong, where women live on average 86.7 years, according to 2011 data from Japan's health and welfare ministry.
Japanese women are not so far behind, at 85.9 years, but losing the first-place position after holding it for the last 26 years is a bit of a climbdown.
The health and welfare ministry wanted to see where Japan stood after the 3/11 earthquake and tsunami. Official statistics show that of some 19,000 people who were killed or never found, more than 56 percent of those killed were aged 65 or older.