Tokyo, Dhu-AlHijjah 11, 1437, September 13, 2016, SPA -- The number of centenarians in Japan grew 6.7 per cent from a year earlier to 65,692 in 2016, hitting a record high for the 46th straight year, the government said Tuesday. Of the total number of centenarians, women account for 87.6 per cent, the Health Ministry said. The oldest Japanese woman, Nabi Tajima, is a 116-year-old resident on Kikai Island in Kagoshima prefecture, while the oldest man is Masamitsu Yoshida, 112, in Tokyo. Japan had only 153 centenarians in 1963 when the ministry started taking data. The figure topped 10,000 in 1998 and the number more than doubled from 32,295 in 2007. The ministry attributed the increase to growing awareness of health and advancing medical technology. --SPA 11:49 LOCAL TIME 08:49 GMT www.spa.gov.sa/w