Okinawa

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The southernmost prefecture of Japan, an island chain in the East China Sea, and the most cited of the claimed longevity regions. The Okinawa Centenarian Study, running since 1975, documented high centenarian prevalence and low rates of coronary disease and some cancers, attributed to a traditional diet heavy in sweet potato and vegetables, low in calories, and to strong community structures. Two facts complicate the story. Okinawan longevity statistics have deteriorated markedly since the 1990s, particularly for men, as the post-war generation ate a very different diet and prefectural rankings for male life expectancy fell sharply — which suggests either that the advantage was environmental and reversible, or that it was partly an artefact. And Okinawa's family registers were extensively destroyed during the 1945 battle, so ages for the oldest cohorts rest on reconstructed records, which is exactly the condition under which age overstatement is hardest to detect.