Main contents start here
Outline of the 2003 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 and land 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 2003 Housing and Land Survey is the twelfth in the series.
While the first housing survey of 1948 was a census, every survey since the second one (conducted in 1953), has employed a sampling method.
Since the eleventh one (conducted in 1998), the topics on lands have been added, and the survey was renamed from the "Housing Survey" to the "Housing and Land Survey".
2.Legal Basis of the Survey
The 2003 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 2003 Housing and Land Survey was carried out as of October 1, 2003.
4. Areal Coverage of the Survey
In the 2003 Housing and Land Survey, approximately 1/4 of the enumeration districts of the 2000 Population Census on national average was sampled in the first stage, and approximately 210,000 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, 2003.
5. Universe of the Survey
The universe of the 2003 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 2003 Housing and Land Survey. The following facilities and 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 2003 Housing and Land Survey investigated the following topics.
Topics Investigated in both Questionnaires A and B
(1)On buildings
a.Number and area of dwelling rooms (in number of tatami units)
b.Tenure of dwelling
c.Site area
d. Tenure of site
(2)On dwellings
a.Construction material
b. Stories of building
c.Type of building
d.Type of dwelling
e. Year of construction
f.Area of floor space
g.Building area
h.Monthly rent
i.Situation of facilities
j.Parking Space
k. Enlarged or remodeled
l.Type of dwellings without any occupants
(3)On households
a.Name of head or representative of household
b.Type 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
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
7. Methods of the Survey
(1)Administrative Organization
The 2003 Housing and Land Survey was planned and administered by the Statistics Bureau, Ministry of Internal Affaires and Communications(MIC), through the following sequence: Ministry of Internal Affaires and Communications Governor of each prefecture Mayor of each municipality (city, town, or village) Supervisors Enumerators Households. Approximately 80,000 enumerators conducted the survey. About 20,000 supervisors provided guidance to the enumerators and inspected their documents.
(2)Method of Survey
a.Enumerators checked all the dwellings and other occupied buildings within their assigned enumeration unit districts for the 2003 Housing and Land Survey. They drafted a list of households in the survey and map of their enumeration unit districts and delivered a questionnaire to each selected household during the period from September 23 to 30, 2003. From October 1 to 7, enumerator revisited all selected 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 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 him/her. For vacant dwellings, the enumerators completed their section of the questionnaire (except for "Type 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, numbers, type of household, stories of building, construction material, type of building, type of dwelling, width of road abutting the site, site area, and building area.
