2000 Population Census - Japan

Source: Statistics Bureau and Statistics Center

• History
• Topics
• Method
• Tabulation and Publication

History

The population censuses in Japan have been conducted almost every five years since 1920, the 2000 Population Census being the seventeenth one.

There are two kinds of population censuses: largescale censuses and simplified censuses. The censuses conducted every ten years starting in 1920 were large-scale censuses while the censuses taken in the fifth year after the large-scale decennial censuses were simplified censuses.

The 2000 Population Census was conducted as a large-scale one.

The main difference between a large-scale census and a simplified census is the number of questions asked. During the prewar period, questions of the simplified censuses (1925 and 1935) were limited to the basic characteristics of the population, i.e., name, sex, age, marital status, while the large-scale censuses (1920, 1930 and 1940) covered questions on economic characteristics such as industry and occupation in addition to the basic characteristics of the population.

Topics

The 2000 Population Census covered the following topics.

• For household members:
  • Name
  • Sex
  • Year and month of birth
  • Relationship to the household head
  • Marital status
  • Nationality
  • Duration of residency at the current domicile
  • Place of 5 years previous residence
  • Education
  • Type of activity
  • Hours actually worked during the week
  • Name of establishment and kind of business (Industry)
  • Kind of work (Occupation)
  • Employments status
  • Place of work or location of school
  • Transportation to the place of work or the location of school
• For households:
  • Type of household
  • Number of household members
  • Source of household income
  • Type and tenure of dwelling
  • Area of floor space of dwelling
  • Type of building and number of stories

Method

The 2000 Population Census was conducted through the following channel: Management and Coordination Agency - Prefectures (To, Do, Fu and Ken) - Municipalities (Shi, Ku, Machi and Mura) - Supervisors - Enumerators - Households.

Before the census-taking, enumeration districts for the 2000 census were demarcated and mapped. The enumeration districts numbered about 940,000 were delineated to comprise 50 households per enumeration district on the average and each enumeration district was in general demarcated by combining some of basic unit blocks. The basic unit blocks were set up in the 1990 Population Census as units of area for permanent use.

Enumeration was done as follows. About 830,000 enumerators who were specially appointed for the 2000 Population Census by Director-General of the Management and Coordination Agency delivered questionnaires to each household and requested the household head to fill out each item. After the census date, they again visited every household to collect the questionnaires.

In the 2000 Population Census, the mark-sheet type questionnaires printed on both sides and designed for four individuals to report on one sheet were used separately for each household.

For the households which were not canvassed due to their absence from home during the period of census-taking, the enumerator filled out name, sex and number of household members on the questionnaires through interviews with neighbours.

Tabulation and Publication

The Statistics Center, Ministry of Public Management, Home Affairs, Posts and Telecommunications takes charge of the whole tabulation of the census results. The tabulated results are released in reports and CD-ROMs by the Statistics Bureau. The reports containing the principal results are published approximately one month after the release. The tabulation and publication are scheduled as follows.

[Top]