OSAKA, Japan — Following the recent death of Japan's erstwhile oldest living person, a 114-year-old retired physician from Nara Prefecture has taken the title, according to the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare.

At age 114 years old, Dr. Shigeko Kagawa has been formally recognized as the symbol of Japan’s extraordinary longevity. At 109, Kagawa became one of the oldest torchbearers in Olympic history during the Tokyo 2021 torch relay.

Kagawa graduated from medical school before the Second World War II and served at a hospital in Osaka during the war, and later ran her family’s clinic as an obstetrician and gynecologist. She retired at 86.

In interviews, the centenarian physician claimed she actually did not do anything out of the ordinary to stay healthy and reach her ripe old age. What she normally does is to keep a regular routine, going to bed and waking up at set times and eating small portions, though, always maintaining three proper meals a day.

Kagawa's predecessor as Japan's oldest person, Miyoko Hiroyasu, led a similarly active life even as she studied art in Tokyo and taught in Hiroshima Prefecture while raising three spritely children.

Hiroyasu died in a nursing home in Oita Prefecture, where she spent her days reading newspapers, sketching and playing card games.

Despite an overall population decline, Japan’s elderly population continues to grow. As of September 1, 2024, a record 36 million people—29 percent of the population—were aged 65 or older, the highest proportion of seniors in the world. Those aged 80 and above now make up 10 percent of Japan's population, based on records from the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications which said there are 95,119 centenarians across the country.