Japanese supercentenarians are citizens, residents or emigrants from Japan who have attained or surpassed the age of 110 years. As of January 2015, the Gerontology Research Group (GRG) had validated the longevity claims of 263 Japanese supercentenarians, most of whom are women. As of 17 September 2026, the oldest-known living Japanese person is Fuyo Kishimoto (born in Hamasaka on 20 December 1911), who is aged 114 years, 271 days. The oldest verified Japanese and Asian person ever is Kane Tanaka (1903–2022), who lived to the age of 119 years and 107 days, making her the second-oldest validated person ever as well. Japan was also home to the world's oldest man ever, Jiroemon Kimura (1897–2013), who lived to the age of 116 years and 54 days.
Tane Ikai (猪飼たね, Ikai Tane; 18 January 1879 – 12 July 1995) had been, until her death, Japan's oldest person following the death of 114-year-old Waka Shirahama in 1992, while also being the first person in Japan to reach the ages of 115 and 116 and being the last Japanese person born in the 1870s.
Tane Ikai was born in Aichi, Empire of Japan on 18 January 1879. She married at 20 and had three sons and a daughter. She separated from her husband in 1917 at the age of 38.
On a typical day, Ikai would eat three meals of rice porridge. In 1968, at the age of 89, she moved into a nursing home where she was to live for the next 20 years. She played an active role in activities at the home and enjoyed making pottery and sewing until suffering her first stroke in 1978 at the age of 99. In 1988, at the age of 109, Ikai suffered another stroke and was moved to a hospital, where she remained bedridden for the rest of her life. She died of kidney failure on 12 July 1995.
Denzō Ishizaki (石崎 伝蔵, Ishizaki Denzō; 2 October 1886 (or 1884?) – 29 April 1999) was an elementary school teacher and town assembly member in his hometown Kansago, Ibaraki Prefecture. At the time of his death, Ishizaki had been the world's oldest-living man for almost 18 weeks. He died of multiple organ failure on 29 April 1999 at age 112 (or 114?) years and 209 days, and was the oldest Japanese man ever (until October 2001, when his record was broken by Yukichi Chuganji). However, Ishizaki claimed to be two years older, asserting that his birth register had been "delayed by two years". In July 2023, LongeviQuest determined that Ishizaki was born 18 days earlier than previously believed, based on his family records.
Yukichi Chuganji (中願寺 雄吉; Chūganji Yūkichi, 23 March 1889 – 28 September 2003) was a Japanese silkworm breeder and specialist, bank employee and community welfare officer who lived for 114 years and 189 days. At the time of his death, he was the oldest Japanese man ever and the world's oldest-living person. He was the fourth out of currently six known men to hold the title.
His diet consisted primarily of meat. He also ate toffee, drank milk, the occasional apple juice and only drank alcohol in moderation, which he believed were the secrets to a long life. He died of natural causes on the evening of 28 September 2003, after being served a glass of apple juice by his 74-year-old daughter, who was his only living child. Besides five children, Chuganji also had seven grandchildren and twelve great-grandchildren.
Misao Okawa (大川ミサヲ, Okawa Misao; 5 March 1898 – 1 April 2015) became the world's oldest-living person following the death of 116-year-old Jiroemon Kimura in June 2013 until her own death in 2015.
Misao Okawa was born on 5 March 1898 in Tenma-Ku (now Kita-ku), Osaka Prefecture, Empire of Japan. Prior to her marriage, she helped with her family's clothing business. In 1919, she married her husband Yukio, who ran his own business in Kobe. They had three children, two daughters and a son. In February 2013, one of her daughters, Shizuyo, and her son Hiroshi, were still alive. After twelve years of marriage, Yukio Okawa died on 20 June 1931 at the age of 36 from heart disease. Following the death of her husband, Okawa moved back to Osaka with her three children. Okawa lived with her son and daughter-in-law. In 2000, she broke her leg at the age of 102. She was able to walk until she was age 110, after which she needed a wheelchair.
Okawa died in Higashisumiyoshi-ku, Osaka, Japan, on 1 April 2015 from heart failure, at the age of 117 years, 27 days.
Nabi Tajima (田島 ナビ, Tajima Nabi; 4 August 1900 – 21 April 2018) succeeded Violet Brown as the world's oldest person after Brown's death on 15 September 2017. She died seven months later and was the last person verified as having been born in the 19th century.
Tajima was born and died on the small island of Kikaijima in the Amami Islands chain, about halfway between Okinawa and the main Japanese islands. Her husband, Tominishi Tajima (田島 富二子), died aged 93 in 1991. She had nine children: seven sons and two daughters, and in September 2017 she was reported to have had around 160 descendants, including great-great-great-grandchildren. She stated that her longevity was due to sleeping soundly and eating delicious food. Guinness World Records was planning to certify Tajima as the world's oldest person, but she died at a nursing home in Kikai shortly before they could do so.
She died at age 117 years and 260 days on 21 April 2018, and was the oldest Japanese person ever until Kane Tanaka surpassed her age in September 2020.
Yasutaro Koide (小出 保太郎, Koide Yasutarō; 13 March 1903 – 19 January 2016) worked as a tailor for a men's clothes shop in Tsuruga, Fukui. He moved to Nagoya when he was 107 years old, to live with his daughter. When he turned 110, Koide could still read newspapers without eyeglasses and eat without dentures.
On 31 March 2014, Koide became the oldest-living person in Aichi Prefecture following the death of Nagoya resident Tsuya Miura, who died at the age of 111. He became the oldest-living man in the world following the death of Sakari Momoi on 5 July 2015, a feat which was recognized by Guinness World Records on 21 August 2015. When asked about the secret to his long life, Koide responded by stating that "the best thing is to not overdo" and recommending abstinence from smoking or drinking.
Koide died on 19 January 2016 due to heart failure and pneumonia in a hospital in Nagoya at the age of 112 years, 312 days.
Masazō Nonaka (野中 正造, Nonaka Masazō; 25 July 1905 – 20 January 2019) had been, until his death, Japan's oldest-living man since October 2016, and the world's oldest-living man for one year, since January 2018. Nonaka was also the oldest person ever born in Hokkaidō.
He had two brothers and three sisters; Nonaka married Hatsuno Nonaka in 1931. They had five children, of whom three were living as of his death. He ran the family onsen, which opened in 1905. He spent most of his later years in a wheelchair, crediting his longevity to eating sweets and relaxing in the hot springs. Nonaka died on 20 January 2019, aged 113 years and 179 days.