By now, it’s well publicized that Japan has a bit of an age discrepancy. The population is aging, and it isn’t getting steadily replaced by an influx of babies. Japan’s population is so old, in fact, that the nation now holds the half-impressive, half-dubious distinction of having more than 100,000 centenarians alive at the same time. That is more at once than at any point in its history.
New health ministry data show a record 107,677 people aged 100 or older currently barely clinging to life across Japan, with nearly 8,000 of them crossing the century threshold in the past year.
The secret to living a relatively healthy life as a Japanese centenarian really isn’t much of a secret. Diet-wise, it’s all in drinking green tea, eating plenty of fermented foods, and eating tons of fresh fish. It also helps that Japan isn’t just home to Tokyo, a massive yet still walkable city; Japan as a whole is a walkable nation, with its cities, towns, and villages encouraging walking if you want to get from place to place.
Of course, you can’t undersell the importance of universal healthcare, and it’s a country that emphasizes the forging of close social bonds that keep your brain elastic and your spirits raised.
The Surprising Secrets Behind Japan’s Record-Breaking Longevity
Being a woman also helps, as 88 percent of Japan’s centenarians were female. Japanese men had it rough, as they were killed or sustained long-term health problems during World War II. They also had to work backbreaking industrial labor jobs. Doesn’t help that they also smoked heavily and became more socially isolated post-retirement. But not all of Japan’s World War II veterans had their lives tragically cut short.
The New York Times wanted to add a little flesh and blood to the statistics, so they visited 106-year-old Tetsuo Sato, a World War II vet who spends his days creating notebooks from old calendars. You’re still mobile and as active as a 106-year-old can be. At least, active enough to be planning his 107th birthday at a hot spring hotel, with aspirations to reach 110.
Clearly, Japan has figured out how to live for a good long while; now they just have to figure out something a lot of other nations are trying to figure out too: how to get people to start making new humans. Japan’s population peaked in 2008, and birth rates have been in freefall ever since, with the population projected to face a massive drop-off to 87 million by 2070.
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