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Survey of Household Economy Circumstances Leading Up to This

• February 15, 2000:Instruction by the then Prime Minister Obuchi at the monthly economic report (ministerial meeting) "It is crucial to establish economic statistics that can adequately keep track of movements in times of conspicuous changes in the economic structure. As such, further improvements should be made in order to swiftly and accurately grasp the actual conditions of consumption and investment."
• March 17, 2000:At the monthly economic report (ministerial meeting), Sakaiya, the then Director-General of the Economic Planning Agency, and the then Director-General of the Management and Coordination Agency made the statement to the effect that "joint research will be conducted in an effort to make necessary improvements for swifly and accurately grasping the actual conditions of consumption".
• April 28, 2000:"Council for Improvement of Method of Grasping Personal Consumption Trends" (joint council of the then Economic Planning Agency and the then Management and Coordination Agency) was launched
• August 9, 2000:"Council for Improvement of Method of Grasping Personal Consumption Trends" -interim report- was compiled

[Proposals of interim report]

1. Consider implementation of new survey from the perspective of demand
   Regarding large consumption for which the frequency of monthly purchase is low and for which the results are unstable in the Family Income and Expenditure Survey,supplement with large sample survey separate from Family Income and Expenditure Survey
2. Establish and utilize supply-side statistics concerning large consumption
   Regarding large consumption for which the frequency of monthly purchase is low and for which the results are unstable in the Family Income and Expenditure Survey, make greater use of supply and sales statistics to make quick estimates of quarterly national income consistent
3. Consider tabulation method based on existing survey
   Based on current results of the Family Income and Expenditure Survey, create new indicators that exclude factors which undermine the stability of results, especially large expenditure, to grasp stable consumption trends by means of consumption function models

• 2 months from January 1 to February 28, 2001:"Pilot Survey for Grasping Personal Consumption Trends in IT-Related Consumption and Large Consumption" was conducted
• From January 2001:"Council for Survey Method of New Personal Consumption Statistics Survey" was held with the aim of considering and studying basic matters, such as what a survey should be, for conducting a new personal consumption statistics survey
• May 11, 2001:An implementation plan was submitted to the Statistics Council
• July 13, 2001:The Statistics Council reported on the implementation plan
• From October 2001:Survey of Household Economy was conducted
• From May 2002:The results of IT items were first released
• From May 2003:The release of the results of supply items from January 2002 began(Index of household economy made from the results of the family income and expenditure survey and the results of the survey of household econony was also released)
• From January 2004:The article "Package tour costs" in the investigation sheet B was divided into "Package tour costs(domestic)" and "Package tour costs(foreign)"
• From January 2006:

  a.The choices changed in the investigation sheet A "Ownership and utilization of equipments and services related to information technology(IT)" and "Utilization of Internet"

  b.The choices changed in the investigation sheet B "Amount paid over one month for specific goods and services"("Piano" to "Instrument(parts are included","PDA" to "Video recorders (DVD recorder, player, etc. are included)")

• From January 2008:

  a.The choices changed in the investigation sheet A "Ownership and utilization of equipments and services related to information technology(IT)" and "Utilization of Internet"

  b.The article "Utilization of electronic money" was added to the investigation sheet A

  c.The choices changed in the investigation sheet B "Amount paid over one month for specific goods and services"

  (a)"Fixed phone unit with Internet connection" finished

  (b)degital and analogue were combined in " Cameras (excluding disposable camera)" and "Video cameras"

  (c)"Car navigation system with Internet connection" was changed to "Car navigation system"

  d.The investigation articles were added to the investigation sheet B "Amount paid over one month for specific goods and services"("Highway fares (using ETC)","Highway fares (excluding ETC)" and "Rental fees for sports facilities"

• From January 2010:

  a.The article "The viewing of terrestrial digital broadcasts and BS broadcasts" was added to the investigation sheet A

  b."Supermarket" was added to the choices of "The place where households used electronic money most frequently" of the article "Electronic money" in the investigation sheet A

  c.The choices changed in the investigation sheet B "Amount paid over one month for specific goods and services"

  (a)"Internet connection charges(provider charges and line usage charges)" and "Internet connection charges(provider charges)" were combined)

  (b)"Wrist watches" and "Accessories" were added

  (c)"TV(with built-in digital broadcast tuner)" and "TV(without digital broadcast tuner)" were combined

  (d)"TV game machine with Internet connection function" was changed to "Video Games, hardware & software"

• From April 2011:

  The articles finished in the investigation sheet A "The viewing of terrestrial digital broadcasts and BS broadcasts" and "Utilization of Internet"

• From January 2015:

  a.The choices "Number of household members","Number of Employed persons"and"Number of students"in the investigation sheet A"Items relating to the house hold"were divided by the age group of household.

  b.The choices changed in the investigation sheet A"Utilization of electronic money"

  c.The article "Purchase of goods and services through the internet"was added to the investigation sheet A

  d.The choices changed in investigation sheet B"Amount paid over one month for specific goods and services"

  e.The choices changed in investigation sheet B"Total Expenditure"

  f.The article "Use of the internet in terms of consumption "was changed into"Amount paid for goods and services purchased through the internet."And 22 items were added to the article.

• From January 2017:

  a.The choices changed in the investigation sheet B"Amount paid over one month for specific goods and services"

  (a).Tuition(kindergarten-university)(public) were added

  (b).Tuition(kindergarten-university)(private) were added

  (c).Desks and chairs(for work or study) were added

  (d).Dining tables and chairs are added

  (e).Remittance were added

  b.The articles finished in the investigation sheet B"Total Expenditure."

• From January 2018:

  The articles finished in the investigation sheet A and B "1.Agricultural, forestry, and fisheries households" and "2.Non-agricultural, forestry, and fisheries households"

• From January 2021:

  a. The choices changed in the investigation sheet A "Equipment that was used most often to buy" (a) "Smartphone and mobile phone (including PHS) " was changed to "Smartphone and mobile phone"

  b. The choices changed in the investigation sheet B"Amount paid over one month for specific goods and services"

  (a) "Smartphone (cell phone, PHS) charges" was changed to "Mobile telephones charges"

  (b) "Mobile telephones unit prices (cell phone, PHS)" was changed to "Mobile telephones unit prices"

  (c) "Japanese clothing (for men and women)" was changed to "Japanese clothing"

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