Outline of the 2001 Census

History of the Census

  The Establishment and Enterprise Census (Designated Statistics No.2) has been conducted since 1947 and the first Census was called the Establishment Census. The second Census, called the Census on the Wages of Establishments, was conducted in the following year, 1948. The main concern of the 1948 Census was cash wages, working days, and hours in each establishment. The third Census was conducted in July 1951 and its contents was almost the same as the first Census which covered basic items on establishments and enterprises. The Census has been conducted every three years since 1951 until 1981 and every five years since 1981 until 1996. The 1996 Census is the 16th, its name was changed to the Establishment and Enterprise Census, and some topics on the business activities of enterprises were newly added. The 1999 Census was conducted three years after the previous Census and was the simplified one which covered only private establishments. The 2001 Census is the 18th, its contents are richer than ever, and its results will be more important and useful.

Main Points of the 2001 Census

  In order to collect more detailed information on the current situation of enterprises such as mergers and acquisitions, restructuring of enterprises or their groups, some topics were newly added: Legal opening year, Name and address of parent company, and Merger or division since October 2nd, 1996. Also State of E-commerce was newly added in consideration of the recent trend in business operations.

Date of the Census

October 1st, 2001

Coverage of the Census

  The Census covered all establishments except the followings:

1. Individual proprietorships which belonged to A-Agriculture, B-Forestry, and C-Fishery among the major groups based on Standard Industrial Classification for Japan;
2. Establishments which belonged to 741-"In-house Household Services" and 742-"Non-In-house Household Services" among L-Services based on Standard Industrial Classification for Japan;
3. Establishments which belonged to 96-Foreign Public Offices among the medium groups based on Standard Industrial Classification for Japan.

Methods of the Census

  There are two kinds of questionnaires: Questionnaire A and Questionnaire B. Questionnaire A is for private establishments and Questionnaire B is for public establishments. Each questionnaire was distributed and collected through the following channels:

1. Questionnaire A

  Minister of Public Management, Home Affairs, Posts and Telecommunication - Prefectural Governors - Municipal Mayors -
  Supervisors - Enumerators - Private Establishments;
  Enumerators visited each private establishment, distributed and collected Questionnaire A.

2. Questionnaire B

(1) National Establishments:      The Minister - National Establishments;
(2) Prefectural Establishments:   The Minister - Prefectural Governors - Prefectural Establishments;
(3) Municipal Establishments:    The Minister - Prefectural Governors - Mayors - Municipal Establishments;
  Questionnaire B was distributed and collected through the above channels.

Topics to be surveyed

  The objectives of the Census was to collect information on the current situation of establishments and enterprises in Japan. Topics were limited to only basic items.

1. Questionnaire A

The following topics were surveyed in Questionnaire A:

[Topics on establishments]
(1) Name and telephone number of establishment
(2) Address of establishment
(3) Legal status
(4) Head office or branch, and name and address of your head office
(5) Opening year
(6) Number of persons engaged
(7) Kind of business activities
(16) Type of establishment

[Topics on enterprises]
(8) Legal opening year of your company
(9) Capital and foreign capital ratio
(10) Parent or subsidiary company, and name and address of parent company
(11) Merger or division since October 2nd, 1996
(12) State of E-commerce
(13) Number of branches
(14) Number of regular employees of your company
(15) Kind of main business activity of your company

2. Questionnaire B

The following topics were surveyed in Questionnaire B:
(1) Name and phone number
(2) Address
(3) Number of persons engaged
(4) Kind of activities

Release Schedule of the Results

  The prompt results and final results will be released as follows:

1. Prompt Results - July 2002
2. Final Results
   (1) Results on establishments and enterprises
   Japan - December 2002
   Prefectures and municipalities - October to December 2002
   (2) Results on establishments
   Small areas - January 2003
   Enumeration districts - February 2003
3. Results on enterprises together with a head office and its branches - June 2003
4. Results on enterprise groups together with a parent company and its subsidiary companies - December 2003

Utilization of the Results

  The Census provides basic data to clarify the current situation of establishments and enterprises in Japan, each prefecture, each municipality, and each small area. Therefore, the Census results are used for policy planning of the national and local governments. In addition, the directory of establishments and enterprises is used as the master sampling frame for various statistical surveys on establishments and enterprises.
  Examples of the use of the Census results are as follows:

1. Grant planning of Local Allocation Tax
     The Census provides basic data such as the number of establishments and persons engaged for the grant planning of Local Allocation Tax which is annually granted from the national government to the local governments.
2. Basic Data for Allocation of Local Consumer Tax
     Local consumer tax is first paid to the central government, then assessed and divided according to the "fair amount corresponding with the total consumption of each prefecture", and then liquidated among prefectures. Second, half of the liquidated money is allocated to municipal governments. The number of persons engaged from the Census gives a solid ground to this "liquidation among prefectures" and "allocation to municipal governments".
3. Policy planning to the concentration of establishments in urban area
     There are so many problems in urban area to be solved by the national and local governments: housing, heavy traffic, environmental pollution, social security, power supply, water supply, garbage disposal, and so on. The Census provides basic data for the policy planning to these problems.
4. Policy planning for regional development
     The Census provides basic data for the policy planning for the regional development:
    (1) Creation of employment opportunities through the subsidization of regional industries and the lure of enterprises;
    (2) Development of city functions responding to aging society, computerization, and globalization;
    (3) Decision making for the location of new buildings, factories and so on;
    and so on.
5. Policy planning for the improvement of "social welfare" and "public and cultural" institutes
     With rapid aging and the rise of people's desire for affluence in recent years, it becomes necessary to improve "social welfare" and "public and cultural" institutes. The Census provides basic data for the policy planning for improving these institutes: nursing homes for the aged, daily service centers for the aged, day nurseries, lifelong learning centers, and so on.
6. Master sampling frame for various statistical surveys
     The Census provides the master sampling frame which is used to select samples to be surveyed for various statistical surveys on establishments and enterprises:
   Monthly Labor Survey;
   Survey on Employment Trends;
   Basic Survey on Wage Structure;
   Survey of Business Condition of Unincorporated Enterprises;
   Basic Survey on Business Structure and Activity;
   Communication Usage Trend Survey;
   Survey of Selected Service Industries;
   Short-term and Economic Survey of Enterprises in Japan;
   and so on.