Japan had 78 people over the age of 110 at the time of this study. Meanwhile, Japan's group of centenarians numbers around 40,000. The tally started increasing in 1965 with better reporting methods. There are far more older women than men, and surprisingly, centenarians had a higher rate of deaths in the latter half of the 20th century, even though medical technology was far better than at the start of the century. Shigechiyo Izumi, of Japan held the title of the oldest man in the world until he died in 2006 at 120, though later his age was called into dispute. (Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research)
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