Meet Shigeko Kagawa, 114-Year-Old Retired Physician Becomes Japan's Oldest Living Person After Miyoko Hiroyasu's Death

(MENAFN- Live Mint) Japan's Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare announced that a 114-year-old retired physician, Shigeko Kagawa, from the Nara Prefecture, or central Japan, has become the oldest living person in the Asian nation after the death of Miyoko Hiroyasu, who was also the same age before their demise, reported the news portal AP on Monday, 4 August 2025.

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Shigeko Kagawa is an obstetrician and gynaecologist by profession who also served in the Second World War as a physician at a hospital in Osaka right after graduating from medical school.

After serving the people of the nation as a physician for a long time, Kagawa retired from her family's clinic at the age of 86, and still serves as a symbol of Japan's extraordinary longevity in terms of age.

At the age of 109, she also became one of the oldest Olympic torchbearers in the history of the games during the Tokyo 2021 torch relay, reported the news agency.

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When a local news portal asked her about the secret of her long lifeline, Kagawa told TOS News in 2023 that,“I don't have any... I just play every day. My energy is my greatest asset. I go where I want, eat what I want and do what I want. I'm free and independent.”

Who was Japan's oldest person before Kagawa?

Before Kagawa took over the title of the oldest living person in Japan , Miyoko Hiroyasu held the title, who passed away at the young age of 114 years. She was born in the year 1911 and was a student of art in Tokyo's Hiroshima Prefecture. According to the news agency's report, Hiroyasu also successfully raised three children.

Kagawa and Hiroyasu share one thing in common: their similarly active lifestyles. Hiroyasu passed away in a nursing home in the Oita Prefecture of Japan, where she spent her final days reading newspapers, playing card games, and sketching.

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“I am grateful to be healthy ,” said Hiroyasu on her 113th birthday, reported the news agency.

Japan's population problem

Japan is facing a population crisis with its overall population dropped over the years, while the elderly population continues to rise in the nation.

According to the agency report, as of 1 September 2024, Japan had a total population of 36 million people, out of which 29% were 65 or older, marking the highest population of senior citizens in the world.

Japan's Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications mentioned that people 80 years of age or older now make up to 10% of the nation's population, which has more than 95,000 centenarians or people who are 100 years old or older, as per the news report.

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