Expert in gerontology and extreme longevity Professor, Keio University School of Medicine

Since Professor Nobuyoshi Hirose, serving as Special Invitation Professor, started a centenarian study in Tokyo in 1992, at the Keio University School of Medicine we have continued research on centenarians and semi-supercentenarians (individuals >105 years old).

At the time Prof Hirose initiated this research, nationwide there were 4,152 centenarians in Japan (corresponding to 1/50th of the current number), and they were considered quite rare. That year, a commercial called ‘Kin’s 100-year-old, Gin’s 100 years, too!’ became a big hit, and centenarians began to attract attention. Mainly due to the work of Professor Hirose, doctors from the Arteriosclerosis Research Group of Division of Geriatric Medicine visited centenarians at their homes, conducting a survey of 20–30 individuals a year.