Population before 1920 was calculated based on information of , while door-to-door censuses have been held every 5 years as of October 1 since 1920, except for 1945. As for prefectural populations before 1945, figures are only given for prefectures that officially constituted . (Southern
Sakhalin) was officially incorporated into Japan Proper from March 26, 1943 until the end of the
World War II, while
Taiwan, the
Kwantung Leased Territory,
Korea and the
South Seas Mandate were treated as . At the end of war, Japan lost sovereignty over Southern
Sakhalin and the
Kuril Islands (part of Hokkaidō, which
Japan partly disputes). For the population of the colonies of the former
Empire of Japan, see
Demographics of Imperial Japan.
1948 to 2020 Population in the following table is given according to the
de jure population concept for enumerating the people. •
Source: Census of Japan (as of October 1 for the years of 2020, 2015, 2010, 2005, 2000, 1995, 1990, 1985, 1980, 1975, 1970, 1965, 1960, 1955 and 1950), ::De jure Population Census of Japan (as of August 1, 1948), ::Census of Ryūkyū (as of October 1, 1970, December 1, 1960 and December 1, 1950), ::Extraordinary Census of Ryūkyū (as of October 1, 1965 and December 1, 1955).
1920 to 1947 Population in the following table is given according to the
de facto population concept for enumerating the people. •
Source: Extraordinary Census of Japan (as of October 1, 1947), ::Population Census of Japan (as of April 26, 1946, November 1, 1945 and February 22, 1944), ::Census of Japan (as of October 1 for the years of 1940, 1935, 1930, 1925 and 1920).
1884 to 1918 Population in the following tables is given according to the A-type
de facto population concept for enumerating the people, based on
koseki registration systems. •
Source: Imperial Japan Static Population Statistics (as of December 31 for the years of 1918, 1913, 1908 and 1903), ::Imperial Japan Population Statistics (as of December 31, 1898), ::Imperial Japan Registered Household Tables (as of December 31 for the years of 1897, 1896, 1895, 1894, 1893, 1892, 1891, 1890, 1889, 1888, 1887 and 1886), ::Japan Registered Household Tables (as of January 1, 1886), ::Japan Household Tables (as of January 1 for the years of 1885 and 1884).
1872 to 1883 Population in the following table is given according to the population concept for enumerating the people, based on
koseki registration system. •
Source: Japan Household Tables (as of January 1 for the years of 1883, 1882, 1878 and 1877), ::Japan Population Tables (as of January 1 for the years of 1881 and 1880), ::Japan Gun Ku Population Tables (as of January 1, 1879), ::Japan Registered Population Tables (as of January 1, for the years of 1876, 1875, 1874 and 1873; and as of March 8, 1872).
1868 to 1871 Several demographic data remain for three ,(i.e. Kyōto-fu, Ōsaka-fu and Tōkyō-fu), 266 , 40 and one (i.e. Kaitaku-shi only in Hokkaidō) that existed for short time between
Meiji Restoration and the
Abolition of the han system, though not thoroughly surveyed. Prefectural system was only introduced to which the Meiji government gained from
Tokugawa shogunate or the revolted , while many areas still belonged to local lordship governments. The table below summarizes demographic data from three sources.
Source: (ref.1)': Table of households for shi, fu and ken (Meiji-shi-yō). ::
(ref.2):
Kokudaka and Population Table of fu, han and ken (
Ōkuma Shigenobu collection). ::
(ref.3): Bunzo Kure, "Estate population Table of fu, han and ken"
Tōkei Shūshi (Statistics Bulletin) no. 8 pp. 96–107 (1882). Estate populations were also given. Statistical data were given as of August 29, 1871 (29th day of the 8th month, Meiji 4) for (1), as of February 2, 1869 (1st day of the 1st month, Meiji 2), for (2) or uncertain for (3), although all these populations seemed to be collected from several
koseki populations surveyed in 1869 and 1870. Naotarō Sekiyama noted that the population of Japan as of August, 1870 (7th month, Meiji 3) was 32,794,897 (
Kinsei Nihon jinkō-no kenkyū (Study of the Population of Japan in the Early Modern Period) (1948)). It is quite apparent that the above demographic data contain many textual errors, but could not be corrected because the original unpublished reports preserved at the office of the Ministry of Interior of Japan were burned by a fire after the
1923 Great Kantō earthquake. For demographic data during the
Edo period, see
Demographics of Japan before Meiji Restoration. ==See also==