The is the statistical agency of Japan, subordinate to the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications (MIC). The SBJ have conducted the Population Census and large-scale surveys to establish key official statistics of Japan. It is also in charge of the management of the public online system of official statistics, international cooperation with other countries' statistics offices, and research and publication regarding statistics.Its headquarters is in the ministry's Second Government Office (第2庁舎), in, Shinjuku, Tokyo,[1] near Wakamatsu-kawada Station of the subway Toei Ōedo Line.[2] The (NSTAC) and the MIC are in the same building.[3] [4]
Brief history of the SBJ and related organizations
Japan's official statistics system is so "decentralized"[5] that various ministries and agencies have their own statistical departments. The SBJ is the oldest among them. The SBJ's chronological table[6] starts from 1871, when the pre-constitutional Meiji government founded under the system, appointing to its director. After frequent changes in the government organization, was established in 1885 with the Cabinet system starting. In 1920 it was reorganized as to conduct the first, but in 1922 it was re-reorganized to the Statistics Bureau as an agency of the Cabinet. Since then, it has used the name of . Despite some changes in its affiliation, it has kept the identity at least since the 1880s.[7]
Among the 54 designated by the government under the (2007 Act No. 53),[8] the SBJ makes 13[9] through statistical surveys, for example, Population Census,, and .Derived statistics produced from a mixture of existing statistics such as and Consumer Price Index as well as register-based statistics of companies and establishments - [10] [11] - are also within the SBJ's coverage.
The SBJ thus conducts a number of nation-wide cyclic surveys. However, the SBJ is located in the capital city and has no local branch. For nation-wide surveys, each local government's statistical division, called, conducts survey work in behalf of the SBJ.[12] This system was started for the first Population Census in 1920 and legally established in 1947 with fiscal backup from the national budget.[13] Other ministries also use this system to conduct nation-wide surveys, unless they use their own local branch offices.[14]
The organization of the MIC follows the (2000 No. 246).[15] The following explanations are based on the articles of the Cabinet Order as on April 25, 2024, but English translations are from the information dated September 2021.[16]
The was abolished in 2005. See
Based on the Article 2 of the Cabinet Order, the SBJ has the to conduct the census and surveys. The following divisions have been established under this Department (Articles 110, 115–118).
The Articles 110–114 of the Cabinet Order also have provisions about the following divisions under the SBJ.
The SBJ cooperates with other entities in the central government, such as the NSTAC, the Director-General for Policy Planning of the MIC, the, and the Statistical Research and Training Institute, as well as the statistical departments from various ministries.
The National Statistics Center (NSTAC) was historically a segment of the SBJ specializing in tabulation. In 1984, this segment was separated from the SBJ to establish the NSTAC. In 2003, it became an Incorporated Administrative Agency.[17] It processes data for various ministries including the SBJ.
The NSTAC and the SBJ also collaborate to develop the Inter-Ministry Information System for Official Statistics, the public online system for statistical surveys and data use. It includes subsystems as follows:
The [22] is a new institution run by the SBJ and the NSTAC. It was established in 2018 in Wakayama to offer services of on-site use of microdata, training of statisticians, and consulting about the use of statistics.
The Statistics Act provides that the Minister for Internal Affairs and Communications has the authority of planning and supervising the whole of the official statistics system, following the advice of the Statistics Commission. The minister delegates these tasks to the Director-General for Policy Planning (not to the SBJ) since 2005.
The authority of supervision and planning of the official statistics system derived from the former (1946–1952). Since the abortion of the Commission in 1952, its responsibilities had been taken by the Commissioner of the consulting the, the advisory board with expert statisticians. For this purpose, the Administrative Management Agency included the Statistical Standards Department. The Department inherited the function of the Statistics Commission.
As a result of the restructuring of governmental organizations in 1984, the Statistical Standards Department was merged into the SBJ. The Department had thus subordinated to the SBJ from 1984 to 2005. During this period, the government organizations were restructured again in 2001, by which the SBJ moved to the MIC.
In 2005, the MIC disestablished the Statistical Standards Department and transferred its functions to one of the of the ministry. This position was initially referred to as in charge of, but since 2021 it has been in charge of .[23]
This Director-General of the MIC is also in charge of international communication with statistics offices of other countries, in collaboration with the SBJ.[24] [25]
The new Statistics Commission was established by the full amendment of the Statistics Act in 2007. It is a council handling the official statistics system, made up from 13 or fewer academic experts. It was a substitute for the Statistics Council, but was provided a broader authority.[26] The revision of the Statistics Act in 2018 further extended the Commission's authority to control the whole of the official statistics. It manages,[27] reviews the plan and process of each of fundamental statistics, maintains statistical standards such as,[28] and supervises the anonymization of micro data for secondary use of statistics.[29]
The statistical departments from various ministries, including the SBJ, hold to discuss issues on official statistics. During 2001–2007, when the Statistics Council lost the authority to actively offer its opinion to the government as a result of the 2001 Central Government Reform, these inter-ministry conferences were the substantial opportunity for decisions on technical matters regarding the statistics system.[30]
The is located in Kokubunji in the west of Tokyo Prefecture. It has its root in the established in 1921.[31] It became an independent educational institute of the MIC in 2003 and included the function of research that had been performed by the SBJ in 2017. The institute has thus conducted research of statistical technologies as well as training of statisticians. The SBJ is in charge of affairs related to the Institute.
The Statistical Library is officially a branch of the National Diet Library.[32] It holds collections related to statistics as well as unpublished tables on microfilm. The Statistical Library also offers a reference service on the use of statistics of Japan. The SBJ is in charge of the management of the library.[33]
The SBJ also runs the . This museum holds historical materials regarding Japan's official statistics.
The SBJ compiles statistical yearbooks[34] such as,[35] Statistical Handbook of Japan,[36] and,[37] as well as reports of the censuses and surveys the SBJ conducted.It has also edited books on the SBJ's history and historical documents related to official statistics.[38] [39] [40] [41]