Home > Statistics > Japan Statistical Yearbook > Chapter 12 Transport and Tourism > Explanations
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This chapter covers transport, tourism and warehousing services.
The section of transport contains statistics on the indices of transport, traffic volume by type of transport and facilities related to transportation. Data on the conditions of roads are obtained from Survey of Roads conducted by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism. Data on the land transport are obtained mainly from Survey on Motor Vehicle Transport, Statistics of Motor Vehicles Owned, Survey on Railway Transport, and "Statistical Yearbook of Railway Statistics", compiled by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism and "Collection of Transport Statistics" posted at the website of the Ministry. Data on the marine transport are supplied mainly by "Statistical Survey on Coastwise Vessel Transport" by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism. Data on air transport are obtained from "Annual Statistical Report on Air Transport" by the same Ministry.
The section of tourism contains the number of foreign visitors to Japan.Data are obtained from "Statistics on Tourism for Japan" published by Japan National Tourism Organization.
The section of warehousing services contains statistics on the utilization of warehouses for business purposes, which are prepared by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism in "Quarterly Statistical Report on Warehousing Services".
For tourism, also see "23 Culture".
The index was initiated in 1965 in order to evaluate comprehensively traffic volume conveyed by various kinds of transportation. The coverage is the transportation of passengers and freight by railways, motor vehicles, vessels and aircraft. Incidental services rendered by warehousing, freight transport, transport facilities services, etc., are excluded from the coverage of the indices. The indices, whose base is the year 2000, are computed by the Laspeyres-type formula, using the value-added based on the 2000 Input-Output Table for the weights. The Index of Transport was terminated with the index for December 2009.
Data are based on Survey on Current Conditions of Road Facilities which is carried out annually as of April 1 by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism. The survey covers national expressways, general national highways, prefectural roads and shi (cities), machi (towns) and mura (villages) roads pursuant to the Road Act. The results of the survey are compiled in "Annual Report of Road Statistics".
Total length refers to the total length of roads designated or approved by the Road Act; and total real length is the total length minus duplicate length (the section duplicated), length not in service (the section for which commencement of the service has not been notified) and water length (the section on the sea, rivers, lakes or marshes where ferrying services are available). "Standard-improved" means that the quality of road, such as width, alignment, inclination, visibility, is improved to meet the standard stipulated by the Ordinance on Road Structure.
Data are based on "Statistical Yearbook of Motor Vehicle Transport", "Statistics of Motor Vehicles Owned" and "Collection of Transport Statistics" posted at the website of the Ministry. Collection of Transport Statistics collects information on the activities of all land transport including statistics on land transport by railways and motor vehicles as well as those on related businesses such as freight transport, warehousing services, travel agencies, hotels, boarding houses and other lodging places, etc.
Statistics on motor vehicle transport was originally compiled from the reports on the actual results of motor vehicle transport submitted monthly by the operators of motor vehicles in conformity with the Road Transportation Act. The Survey on Motor Vehicle Transport was initiated in April 1960, and light motor vehicles were included in 1987. It is a sample survey covering trucks and passenger cars, and the sample size is about 33,000 vehicles for February, June and October, and about 10,000 vehicles for other months (however, complete count for buses).
"Motor Vehicles Owned" comprises registered motor vehicles entered in the motor vehicle registration files in accordance with the Road Transport Vehicle Act and the light two-wheeled vehicles and light motor vehicles that may be legally driven by notification.
Registered motor vehicles are classified, according to the purpose of use, into those for freight transport, for shared passengers, for private passenger transport, and for special use. Special use vehicles refer to vehicles for special uses such as fire engines, tank trucks, etc. having appropriate structure or equipment. Heavy special vehicles are those made for special operations, such as road rollers, forklift trucks, etc. having special structure.
Light two-wheeled vehicles and light three- and four-wheeled vehicles are subject to compulsory motor vehicle inspection, whereas light motorcycles are subject to notification only.
Data are based on "Survey on Railway Transport", "Statistical Yearbook of Railway Statistics" and "Collection of Transport Statistics". Statistical Yearbook of Railway Statistics" is based on the performance reports and business reports of railway and tramway operators and the Survey on Railway Transport, and contains statistics on passenger traffic receipts. As for the "Collection of Transport Statistics", refer to the Motor vehicle transport shown above.
This survey is conducted monthly covering railway and tramway operators throughout the country. The survey items are passenger operation-kilometres, passengers carried, passenger-kilometres, freight operation-kilometres, freight volume, ton-kilometres and others. The former Japan National Railways was privatized in April 1987, and was divided into six regional railway companies, namely Hokkaido, East Japan, Tokai, West Japan, Shikoku and Kyushu, and Japan Freight Railway Company. They are generally referred to as JR. For the former Japan National Railways, statistics were compiled from business report based on the Ordinance for Enforcement of the Japan National Railways Act, whereas the Survey on Private Railways Transport had been conducted since 1960, and in 1987, the Survey on Railway Transport was started along with the enforcement of Railway Business Act. The results of the survey are contained in the "Statistical Yearbook of Railway Transport". Contents are volume of transport (passengers and freight) of JR and private railways and tramways, and passengers carried by cableways.
Statistics on ocean-going transport and coastal passenger transport are compiled from the reports on the actual results of operation submitted at regular intervals by the shippers engaged in shipping business to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism in conformity with the Sea Transportation Act. The results are contained in the "Collection of Transport Statistics", etc.
Statistics on tonnage carried by coastal shipping had been prepared based on the reports on the actual operation submitted by the operators of coastal shipping business pursuant to the Sea Transportation Act in case of steel vessels and the Wooden Vessel Transportation Act (after its amendment, the Small Vessel Shipping Act) in case of wooden vessels. "Statistical Survey on Coastwise Vessel Transport" was initiated in April 1963. The statistics are derived from "Survey on Coastwise Vessel Transport (Commercial Transport Survey)" and "Survey on Transportation by Vessels for Private Use", the former covering the shippers transporting goods by vessels of 20 gross tons or more among those shippers who operate coastal shipping business stipulated by the Coastal Shipping Act, and the latter covering the shippers transporting goods by vessels of 100 gross tons or more, or 30 metres long or more among those shippers for private use. Survey on the Actual Results of Coastwise Vessel Transport is a sampling survey conducted monthly as to the actual performance during the month, and Survey on the Actual Results of Transportation by Vessels for Private Use is carried out as of April 1 every year by complete count of the performances during the preceding fiscal year.
The survey has been conducted monthly since 1957.
It consists of the Survey on Operating Hours of Aircraft, the Survey on Air Transport by Domestic Lines, and the Survey on Air Transport by International Lines. The survey covers all the air transport companies and airplane using companies authorized under the provision of the Civil Aeronautics Act. In each survey, questionnaires are sent and collected by mail or via the Internet.
Data are obtained from "Statistics on Tourism for Japan "published by Japan National Tourism Organization (JNTO). The number of foreign visitors to Japan is compiled by JNTO on the basis of the statistics of the Ministry of Justice.
Based on the immigration statistics by nationality, which are compiled by the Ministry of Justice, the number is obtained by subtracting foreign immigrants who have permanent residence in Japan from the authorized foreign immigrants, then adding temporary immigrants who enter Japan temporarily on the way to the third country.
Tourists Foreigners entering Japan for a short stay, excluding those for business. Those visiting relatives or friends are included.
Other visitors Foreigners entering Japan with a purpose other than sightseeing or business. Examples of purpose are study, training, diplomacy and official.
Data are obtained from "Quarterly Statistical Report on Warehousing Services" by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism.
Warehouse statistics are compiled quarterly on the basis of the reports (on warehousing, delivery, stocks, etc.) based on the Ordinance for Enforcement of the Warehousing Business Act. Warehouses in this statistics refer to those for business use and do not include those for private use.
