Outline of the 1998 Survey

1.History of the Survey

The Housing and Land Survey is the most fundamental statistical survey on housing conditions for the purpose of obtaining basic data for various housing policy measures by investigating the actual situations of dwellings and other occupied buildings and the inhabiting households thereof in our country to clarify the present circumstances and trends for the whole country, major metropolitan areas, and prefectures. It has been conducted every five years since 1948,and the 1998 Housing and Land Survey is the eleventh in the series. While the first housing survey of 1948 was a census, and for the second survey of 1953,the coverage was confined to urban areas, every survey since the third one, conducted in 1958 has employed a sampling method.

2.Legal Basis of the Survey

The 1998 Housing and Land Survey was conducted in conformity with the Statistics Law (Law No.18 of 1947)and the Housing Survey Regulations (Prime Minister's Office Order No. 41 of 1982).

3. Date of the Survey

The 1998 Housing and Land Survey was carried out as of October 1, 1998.

4. Areal Coverage of the Survey

In the 1998 Housing and Land Survey, approximately 1/5.5 of the enumeration districts of the 1995 population census on national average was sampled in the first stage, and approximately 157,000 unit districts (hereinafter referred to as "enumeration unit district") were selected at random from among those demarcated in the sampled enumeration districts as of February 1, 1998.

5. Universe of the Survey

The universe of the 1998 Housing and Land Survey was dwellings, other occupied buildings, and all the households inhabiting those dwellings and buildings which were located in the enumeration unit districts at the time of the 1998 Housing and Land Survey. The following facilities an households living there were excluded from the enumeration:

(1)Facilities under the management of diplomatic establishments and other authorized foreign or international agencies and dwellings where foreign envoys, consular officials, and their dependents (including families) live
(2)Facilities which are deemed to be Imperial property under the management of the Imperial Household Agency
(3)Jails, prisons, reformatories, detention homes, women's shelters, and illegal immigrant detention centers
(4)Camps and other facilities of the Self-Defense Forces
(5)Camps and other facilities used by the U.S. Army

6. Topics to be Investigated

Using Questionnaires A and B, the 1998 Housing and Land Survey investigated the following topics.

Topics Investigated in both Questionnaires A and B

(1)On buildings
a.Use of building
b.Number and area of dwelling rooms (in number of tatami units)
c.Tenure of dwelling
d.Monthly rent
e.Site area
f.Tenure of site
(2)On dwellings
a.Construction material
b.Condition of building
c.Stories of building
d.Type of building
e.Kind of dwelling
f.Year of construction
g.Area of floor space
h.Building area
i.Situation of facilities
j.Enlarged or remodeled
k.Type of dwellings without any occupants
(3)On households
a.Name of head or representative of household
b.Kind of household
c.Number of household members
d.Annual income of household
(4)On main earner or head of household
a.Employment status
b.Commuting time
c.Year of last relocation
d.Previous residence
e.Son or daughter in different household
(5)On dwelling environment
a.Duration of sunshine
b.Roads abutting the site

Topics Investigated in Questionnaire B

(6)On housing and land other than the present residence
a.Tenure of housing and land
b.Location
c.Area
d.Use
e.Construction material of dwelling
f.Year of construction of dwelling

7. Methods of the Survey

(1)Administrative Organization

The 1998 Housing and Land Survey was planned and administered by the Statistics Bureau of the Management and Coordination Agency through the following sequence of participants: Director General of the Management and Coordination Agency → Governor of each prefecture → Mayor of each municipality (city, town, or village) → Supervisors → Enumerators → Households. Approximately 80,000 enumerators conducted the survey. About 10,000 supervisors provided guidance to the enumerators and inspected their documents.

(2)Method of Survey

a.Enumerators visited all dwellings and other occupied buildings within their assigned enumeration unit districts for the 1998 Housing and Land Survey. They drafted a list of households in the survey and a map of their enumeration unit districts and delivered a questionnaire to each household during the period from September 23 to 30, 1998. From October 1 to 7,enumerators revisited all households in their districts to collect the completed questionnaires and check the entries.
b.One questionnaire, either A or B, was distributed in each enumeration unit district.Questionnaires A and B were allocated at random to individual enumeration unit districts at the ratio of 6 to 1 on a national average.
c.Questionnaires were completed by the head (or representative) of the household while some parts were filled out by the enumerator during the interview with the head (or representative) of the household. For vacant dwellings, the enumerators completed their section of the questionnaire (except for "kind of household") by investigating the exterior of the dwelling. For households who were absent and thus could not complete the questionnaire, the enumerator spoke with the household's neighbors and completed some parts of the questionnaire, such as the name of the head or representative of the household, number of household members, kind of household, use of building, stories of building, condition of building, construction material, type of building, kind of dwelling, width of road abutting the site, site area of site, and building area.