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Article: JAPAN GROWING TOWARD AN AGING RECORD.(PERSPECTIVE)
- Article from:
- Albany Times Union (Albany, NY)
- Article date:
- September 27, 1998
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1998 Albany Times Union. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Byline: JIM MANN
WASHINGTON -- A few days ago, Japan's Health and Welfare Ministry released some new statistics that reveal a great deal about where Japan is heading and how it is behaving in the world these days.
For the first time, the number of Japanese over the age of 100 has climbed above 10,000, the ministry said. There are now 10,158 centenarians in Japan, about 80 percent of them women.
The growth rate is startling. In 1965, only 153 Japanese were 100 or over, according to the health ministry. Just five years ago, the number was below 5,000.
In their way, these numbers tell us more about Japan, and its economic frictions with ...