Japan’s Ministry of Well being, Labour and Welfare introduced {that a} 114-year-old retired doctor, Shigeko Kagawa, from the Nara Prefecture, or central Japan, has turn into the oldest residing individual within the Asian nation after the loss of life of Miyoko Hiroyasu, who was additionally the identical age earlier than their demise, reported the information portal AP on Monday, 4 August 2025.
Who’s Shigeko Kagawa?
Shigeko Kagawa is an obstetrician and gynaecologist by occupation who additionally served within the Second World War as a doctor at a hospital in Osaka proper after graduating from medical faculty.
After serving the folks of the nation as a doctor for a very long time, Kagawa retired from her household’s clinic on the age of 86, and nonetheless serves as an emblem of Japan’s extraordinary longevity by way of age.
On the age of 109, she additionally grew to become one of many oldest Olympic torchbearers within the historical past of the video games throughout the Tokyo 2021 torch relay, reported the information company.
When a neighborhood information portal requested her in regards to the secret of her lengthy lifeline, Kagawa informed TOS Information in 2023 that, “I don’t have any… I simply play on daily basis. My power is my biggest asset. I’m going the place I need, eat what I need and do what I need. I’m free and impartial.”
Who was Japan’s oldest individual earlier than Kagawa?
Earlier than Kagawa took over the title of the oldest residing individual in Japan, Miyoko Hiroyasu held the title, who handed away on the younger age of 114 years. She was born within the 12 months 1911 and was a pupil of artwork in Tokyo’s Hiroshima Prefecture. In response to the information company’s report, Hiroyasu additionally efficiently raised three youngsters.
Kagawa and Hiroyasu share one factor in frequent: their equally lively life. Hiroyasu handed away in a nursing house within the Oita Prefecture of Japan, the place she spent her ultimate days studying newspapers, enjoying card video games, and sketching.
“I’m grateful to be healthy,” mentioned Hiroyasu on her 113th birthday, reported the information company.
Japan’s inhabitants downside
Japan is dealing with a population disaster with its general inhabitants dropped over time, whereas the aged inhabitants continues to rise within the nation.
In response to the company report, as of 1 September 2024, Japan had a complete inhabitants of 36 million folks, out of which 29% have been 65 or older, marking the very best inhabitants of senior residents on the earth.
Japan’s Ministry of Inside Affairs and Communications talked about that folks 80 years of age or older now make as much as 10% of the nation’s inhabitants, which has greater than 95,000 centenarians or people who find themselves 100 years outdated or older, as per the information report.
