You have probably heard that people in Japan live longer than almost anyone else.
Most of us guess it comes down to good genes or good luck. The country's own numbers, and decades of research, point somewhere else.
The number of Japanese people aged 100 or older reached 107,677 in September 2026, according to figures from Japan's Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare. Women make up almost 88 percent of the total, writes People.
It is the 56th year in a row the number has risen, and the first time any country has passed the 100,000 mark.
Also read: Type 2 diabetes may soon be detectable from just 20 seconds of your voice
Researchers who have followed Japan's oldest people for decades keep landing on the same short list of habits.
A mostly plant-based plate with some fish. Stopping eating before you feel full. Daily walking. Close, lasting social ties.
The 80 percent rule at the dinner table
The Okinawa Centenarian Study, running since 1975, has documented a phrase older Okinawans still repeat at meals.
Hara hachi bu means "eat until only 80 percent full." It is not a diet, but a habit of stopping early.
Also read: A new weight-loss drug could cut your body weight by a quarter
The traditional plate the study describes was dominated by many varieties of sweet potato, vegetables, legumes and soy. Fish was regular. Red meat was small and occasional.
A 2007 study led by Bradley and Craig Willcox at the Pacific Health Research Institute compared six decades of food records for older Okinawans and Americans. Older Okinawans ate roughly 10 to 15 percent fewer calories than standard guidelines suggest.
Their lifelong body weight stayed low. Their rates of heart disease and some cancers were far below what Americans of the same age faced.
Daily walking instead of workouts
The second habit is ordinary. It is simply staying on your feet through the day.
Also read: These fruits contain a surprising amount of protein
The Okinawa Centenarian Study describes historically high levels of movement from daily living, not from formal exercise: gardening, walking, chores.
In Japan more broadly, walking is the most common form of activity in older adults. Long-term cohort studies find that older people who walk more each day live longer without disability than those who stay sedentary.
The takeaway from the research is not marathon training. It is everyday steps: errands, gardens, neighborhood loops.
Meals shared with the same faces
Okinawan researchers also point to the "moai," small groups of friends who stay in each other's lives from childhood into old age. The Okinawa Centenarian Study calls them informal circles for emotional and practical support.
Also read: How your bread can stay fresh for up to 8 months
In practice, it means older people are rarely eating or sitting alone.
That matters for health. Loneliness and long isolation are linked to higher rates of heart disease and earlier death across many populations.
A large Japanese study, the Ohsaki Cohort 2006 Study, followed 11,982 adults aged 65 or older for 11 years. Older men and women with the most social participation lived about five years longer without disability than those with none.
What the pattern can and cannot prove
None of this guarantees anyone reaches 100. Japan also benefits from universal health care and low rates of obesity. Genes still play some role.
Also read: Using AI for health questions is tied to anxiety and depression in young adults
The Okinawa findings are observational. They show a strong pattern across the population. They do not prove cause and effect in any one person.
Still, the pattern is unusually consistent. Vegetables and legumes on most plates. Fish more often than red meat. Stopping before you feel stuffed. Daily walking. Familiar faces at the table.
This article is made and published by Ida-Marie Palm Varbæk, who may have used AI in the preparation.