Five days before the significant "Respect for the Aged Day," in Japan, Minister of Health, Labor and Welfare, Yoko Komiyama announced to media on Wednesday that the country's centenarians reached an all-time high with 47,756 Japanese aged 100 and older.

The statistics, which is almost 0.70 percent increase from last year, show that the country has 37 out of 100,000 Japanese aged more than a hundred and 87 percent are women, Japan Today reported.

Gaining the top spot are a woman named Chiyono Hasegawa, born on Nov. 20, 1896 and a man named Jirouenom Kimura, born on April 19, 1897. To date, both are 114 years old.

The minister pointed out to the press that on Sep 1, there were 24, 952 Japanese who turned 100 in the past 12 months. They received a letter from the Prime Minister along with a silver cup.

To resolve last year's credibility issue, Minister Komiyama said the survey has been conducted more thoroughly this year to ensure that none of the centenarians included in the list are already long dead. Upon turning a hundred year old, the centenarian shall start receiving a decent pension from the government until death.

But the official was also quick to emphasize that the new figure still includes centenarians who remain unaccounted after the March 11 9.0 magnitude earthquake and destructive tsunami, where a huge chunk of the casualties were the elderly.

In 1999, Japan recorded 11,346 centenarians. Today, its population reaches almost 128 million and most of them are already in the graying phase.

Japan's growing figure of centenarians coupled with very low birthrates are fueling concern over the country's manpower resources in the future, a plummeting tax base, and heavily-burdened medical care system and public pension.

Experts blame the country's chronically high cost of living, fast-paced lifestyle, and a mounting pressure from respective careers as the fundamental reason for the low birthrate.