Japan's Population of the Aged Marks All-time High

Just imagine three out of ten women are now elderly and the soaring trend is ongoing in Japan. Here's a land of courtesy and the phenomenon is something graifying - or is it?

September 19 falls on the Day of the Aged in Japan, and the Somusho, the Ministry of Public Management, Home Affairs, Posts and Telecommunications, bared September 18 that of the total population 34.61 million or 27.3% are over 65 years - both figures topping the previous year to mark the highest in history.

The ministry reports the male and female populations over 65 years of age as of September 15 are 14.99 million and 19.62 million, respectively, totalling roughly 34.61 million, the former having risen by 350 thousand and the latgter 380 thousand, respectively, to register the highest in history

The population of the aged has risen by 0.6% to 27.3% of the total population. While the aggregate total population of Japan is chronically falling, the aged are in contrast rising in population, noticeably the female population which marked up by 30.1% - for the first time beyond the 30% borderline.

Meanwhile, the ministry's data on workforce indicate that working elders grew in number the previous year for twelve years consecutively to the all-time high of 7.3 million. Male workers over 65-69 years of age account for 52.2% of the total and female workers 31.6% or roughly a third of the total.

Data show that elders of either gender are working more in number every year, indicating Japan's workforce market is fairly well provided for by workers in higher age brackets..

I might mention in passing that Japan is populated by 61,568 elders over 100 years of age, an increase of 2,748 over the previous year. The eldest is a female resident in Shibuya, Tokyo, aged 115, followed by a male in Nagoya 112 years of age.