The number of Japanese people aged over one-hundred has reached a record high.

The government's annual report, says that more than thirteen-thousand Japanese will be at least one-hundred years old this month.

Average life expectancy in Japan is the highest in the world eighty-four for women and seventy-seven for men and it's attributed to a healthy diet and high quality medical care. The oldest is Kamato Hongo who's one-hundred-and-thirteen and lives on the island of Kyushu with her seventy-six year old daughter.

The annual report is being released ahead of Respect the Aged Day on September the fifteenth

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service