Japan Census 2005

[Taro Toporific]

I just got an message from another gaijin who said:

I got my form in English, and was provided with a sheet with very good explanations in English on how to fill out the form.

Has anybody else seen this "How to"?

Ms TAKETANI of the Census Dept came by at 6:55pm tonight (Sun, 02-Oct-2005). She said that the Census only provides Chinese/Korean/engrish/etc information about why-the-census-is-important and no foreign-language "How-to" instructions. She neither could give a reason why the Census Park's foriegn language information is illegally made inaccessible to blind (it consists of only image files without plain JIS text). I told her the Census is in violation of Japan's equal access for the handicapped laws.

Now on Tuesday, she has to bring her supervisors to "explain" these screw ups to me. This is gonna be fun.

She argued for 15 minutes in Japanese that there were no foreign language instuctions ----rather than just asking me the Census questions in Japanese and writing down my answers as she does with many elderly Japanese people who cannot write well anymore.

The Taro iSight webcam will broadcast the fun Tuesday.
Illegal anti-blind persons Census site

[IkemenTommy]

Man.. just learn the fuckin language.. easy to say, I know.
Or have a J gal friend(s) to take care of you.. works for me.

[Taro Toporific]

[IkemenTommy]

Jesus H Christ.. do they have cliffs notes for that?
And isn't it too late to turn in the form after this weekend?

[dimwit]

Bingo!
Ms TAKETANI supervisors just sent me the instructions, in PDF format.

Jesus Taro why didn't you just let the Missus do it? Sounds like you have Neonecro too much time on your hands.

[Taro Toporific]

Bingo!
Ms TAKETANI supervisors just sent me the instructions, in PDF format.

Jesus Taro why didn't you just let the Missus do it?

Oh she wouldn't want to deprive me of the "pleasure."

[dimwit]

Bingo!
Ms TAKETANI supervisors just sent me the instructions, in PDF format.

Jesus Taro why didn't you just let the Missus do it?

Oh she wouldn't want to deprive me of the "pleasure."

My wife won't let me do it, she knows I would do a deliberate botch of it by including the goldfish as dependents (which they are) or some such thing.

BTW one of my favorite census stories from my dad happened back in the late 1940's. .

He was teacher economics at UBC and the census taker visited him. When ask what his profession was he replied 'I'm an economist'. The census taker had obviously never heard the word before and was confused replied 'Well, everyone is entitled to their own political beliefs'

[IkemenTommy]

There is a portion on the form where you can write down your phone number and so they'll contact you if there are any problems. Maybe it was not such a good idea but I wrote down my keitai number.

[Reddeville]

Here`s my experience - didn`t get a form but 2 days before Saturday`s Census Day a collector came around. Reproduction of conversation (in Japanese at the time, English here).

Collector - You have to do the Census. Everybody -

Me - Sorry, I`m not a Japanese citizen. Citizens only, isn`t that correct?

Collector - No, Everybody has to do it.

Me - I read the law with a lawyer who is Japanese (True my fellow fucked gaijin). He said that the original law was never amended properly - just like your law on emergency measures to help Japanese citizens only in the case of earthquakes, floods, national emergencies etc. We foreigners don`t get a mention and we are not given any legal status for such situations.

Collector - The law -

Me - Was never amended. Only some regulations were enacted that included other persons. But still that`s not enough to legally make me do it. I have had legal advice.

Collector - Goodbye.

[Reddeville]

And as for the fucked gaijin who asserted that it aint much to do, why bother worrying about it, nobody gives a shit about you etc etc - all I can say is you are MORE fucked than I thought!

Taro`s just given us the skinny on what the Census fascists want to know - and it`s damn more intrusive than any I filled out in the good ol USA.

Typical Japanese noseyness and hypocrisy - the gaijin can be left for dead in an emergency because they are invisible people who don`t even warrant a mention in the National Disaster/Emergency Law, but we`ll include them when it benefits We Japanese. Always.

To the fucked gaijins who are so stupid that you make some of the village idiots in Japan look like people who are capable of using their brain to a small extent - enjoy your status as lower than human by Japanese law except when they want to benefit from you in some way.

You Suckers!

[Taro Toporific]

Jesus H Christ.. do they have cliffs notes for that?
And isn't it too late to turn in the form after this weekend?

The Census goes on until Oct 10. Although they want your to hand it over to a census taker, you can mail it until Oct 10. Just use the postal address (or fax number to really screw them up) on the back of the Japanese instructions. Many Japanese now mail it in since they don't trust their local census snoop (for good reason).

[IkemenTommy]

I saw on the news that there were fake census takers collecting personal information. The only way to know that they are real is if they are wearing a tag around their neck and some official red hanko. I noticed it was not a picture ID though so I guess anyone with the right mind could forge one..

[dimwit]

Census taker burned forms over lack of cooperation

From the Daily Yomiuri -A census taker from Bando, Ibaraki Prefecture, burned census forms after reportedly becoming angry with uncooperative people, according to the prefectural government.

The Internal Affairs and Communications Ministry is considering punishing the 66-year-old man for destroying public documents.

According to prefectural officials, the man was assigned to collect census forms from about 70 households in the Nakazato district in Bando. He called the Bando municipal government Thursday morning, complaining that some people were not cooperating.

"I can't deal with people who live in apartments. Can I just burn all the forms?" he reportedly said in a phone call to city hall.

In Canada, census taker get paid by the number of forms they submit but I have no idea if this is the case in Japan.

The story also makes me wonder who the who the census taker really are.

[IkemenTommy]

In Canada, census taker get paid by the number of forms they submit but I have no idea if this is the case in Japan.

The story also makes me wonder who the who the census taker really are.

Shit, if I were the census taker in Canada, I'd be filling out bogus ones to get paid more

[NeoNecroNomiCron]

Bingo!
Ms TAKETANI supervisors just sent me the instructions, in PDF format.

Jesus Taro why didn't you just let the Missus do it? Sounds like you have Neonecro too much time on your hands.

Fuck you!

[IkemenTommy]

Fuck you!

WB, NeoNecro

[Mulboyne]

Kyodo via Japan Today: Gov't to change census method after refusals, scams

The government has decided to change the way it conducts the national census for the first time since it was launched in 1920 as an increasing number of people refused to respond to the latest survey partly due to rising awareness about the protection of privacy, government officials said Sunday. The Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications will examine the possibility of conducting the survey through the Internet or collecting census forms through the mail. Officials said the number of people who refused to complete census forms increased substantially in the latest survey conducted earlier this month, and that about 100 cases were reported in which people pretending to be authorized personnel collected census forms.

Two middle-aged Japanese friends of mine said they had refused to complete the survey this time.

[Mulboyne]

Asahi: Fundamental review needed of census system
...This time, one important change was made in the census method. In response to growing public demand for privacy protection, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications allowed households to return data-collection sheets in a sealed envelope...Many local governments did not try to explain the purpose of the sealed envelope to residents. For many people, the enumerators are their neighbors, for example, landlords and other acquaintances. Thus, it should not be surprising that many people are concerned that sealing the envelope could make the census-takers - their acquaintances - suspect that they are keeping secrets from them.
...There is also another problem. Increasingly, residents are refusing to provide information in the census. At the same time, scuffles have broken out between enumerators and respondents. To our minds, census-taking has reached a turning point...Many of the reports on the previous census compiled by local authorities point out problems with the current census method involving door-to-door canvassing by enumerators to deliver and collect census sheets.
...We have been arguing for separating the population census that requires counting everybody in the nation from the social survey about labor, education and housing situations. Proper statistical methods of sampling should be used for social surveys to make the process simpler and less likely to cause troubles with respondents

[amdg]

[Taro Toporific]

.. the envelope was specifically designed so that the contents could be extracted and then replaced without breaking the seal.

That's the standard printed matter envelope. Oddly, the census should be "franked" mail and should not need postage or have to be sent via the el cheapo printed matter rate.
Like amdg, I also mailed mine my census, but I now wonder if I should have send it "receipt requested." I'm getting the feeling that the Census Dept. is just throwing away the mailed in forms.

[IkemenTommy]

I'm getting the feeling that the Census Dept. is just throwing away the mailed in forms.

Only if you have a gaijin katakana name like Taro Smith

[amdg]

That's the standard printed matter envelope.

I don't doubt you but that's the first time I've ever seen them in Japan. No company I've ever worked for has used them. So Taro, any ideas why the standard printed matter envelope has that gap at the side? That's got me curious.

Oddly, the census should be "franked" mail

Yes that was strange too but I chalk that down to $.

[Taro Toporific]

That's the standard printed matter envelope.

No company I've ever worked for has used them. So Taro, any ideas why the standard printed matter envelope has that gap at the side? That's got me curious.

The standard printed matter envelope has that gap at the side so that it qualifies as "unsealed" and can be inspected to make sure it's printed matter. In US and Canada printed matter used to handed in with back flap tucked in but not sealed. For a while, one small piece of tape was permitted across the tucked-in back flap and finally N. American post offices just gave up and allowed sealed envelopes for printed matter.

Printed Matter
("Insatsubutsu")
Christmas cards, copied documents and catalogs may be posted at reduced rates. Simply write "Imprime" or "Printed Matter " in the upper left corner of the addressed side of the envelope (or package) and hand it in unsealed. Bound documents and pamphlets may be handed in sealed.
http://www.post.japanpost.jp/english/service/intel_service/index.html

HINT: According to Japanese postal regulations, Christmas cards are printed matter so long as you write on the card itself, don't seal it fully and don't enclose a separate letter. This can save a lot of money in postage ----If you get your "printed matter" Christmas cards in the mail before Dec. 1 cards can be sent via printed matter for a little 90 yen (average 120 yen per heavier Xmas card).

[Reddeville]

And what happened to all those dumbass threats of fines and prison sentences etc etc? Told my census collector `I aint answering shit` - in a different, more polite Japanese version.

He backed down and ran away so fast that he should be the special over-50s rep for Japan in the sprint at the next Olympics. So - where`s all these enforcers who are gonna make furyo gaijin do the census? Where are the assholes?

Fact is - if Japan didn`t discriminate against me legally in numerous ways, and hadn`t asked so many nosey questions in such a snooping way (ie your collector can read all your info like how many hours you work) I would have done the census. The dumbfucks need to get their act together. No privacy, no co-operation.

Then again I live in the inaka where the inbreds show their limitations by my city hall sending me a blurb about how they`re protecting my privacy when I go there to ask for info or whatever, and at the same time the shit for brains inbreds have everybody`s name and address listed on a board near each area of the neighborhood.

I`m doing the `You discriminate against me by your laws and in everyday life and you want me to help you like a citizen when it suits your dumb, racist asses?` act. It would also help if the gene pool was enlarged in Japan but as these people, mongrelized Mongolians/Koreans/Chinese originally as they were, are resistant to anybody but the fictional Japanese race and have been for hundreds of years, there isn`t much hope for that.

[Mulboyne]

And what happened to all those dumbass threats of fines and prison sentences etc etc?

To be fair, I don't think anyone doubted for a moment that it was possible to avoid filling in the census. It's been done many times over the years and I've never heard of an FG being fined for refusing or failing to complete it. I wonder whether anyone has actually been fined, for that matter. However, you did ask for a legal opinion and the advice you got was that, legally, you would be on shaky ground if someone chose to pursue you. Practically speaking, no-one is likely to pursue you but that is to do with the implementation of the law rather than the law itself.

[FG Lurker]

And what happened to all those dumbass threats of fines and prison sentences etc etc? Told my census collector `I aint answering shit` - in a different, more polite Japanese version.

He backed down and ran away so fast that he should be the special over-50s rep for Japan in the sprint at the next Olympics. So - where`s all these enforcers who are gonna make furyo gaijin do the census? Where are the assholes?

Fact is - if Japan didn`t discriminate against me legally in numerous ways, and hadn`t asked so many nosey questions in such a snooping way (ie your collector can read all your info like how many hours you work) I would have done the census. The dumbfucks need to get their act together. No privacy, no co-operation.

OMFG they wanted to know how many hours I work in a week??? Oh shit, whatever shall I do!? The sky is falling!

I really don't see any problem with the questions asked on the census. With all the stink people made I figured they were going to be asking for actual private information.

Then again I live in the inaka where the inbreds show their limitations by my city hall sending me a blurb about how they`re protecting my privacy when I go there to ask for info or whatever, and at the same time the shit for brains inbreds have everybody`s name and address listed on a board near each area of the neighborhood.

I`m doing the `You discriminate against me by your laws and in everyday life and you want me to help you like a citizen when it suits your dumb, racist asses?` act. It would also help if the gene pool was enlarged in Japan but as these people, mongrelized Mongolians/Koreans/Chinese originally as they were, are resistant to anybody but the fictional Japanese race and have been for hundreds of years, there isn`t much hope for that.

Here's a tip: LEAVE JAPAN. Life is short, there is no point staying somewhere that obviously makes you so unhappy.

[Reddeville]

Sorry to state the obvious to you but I kind of like deciding my own destiny instead of taking the advice of people I`ve never met in my life.

I`ll stay here as long as I like - and I`m not gonna become one of the counter-bitching gaijin who come out with `Leave if you`re not happy`, `Go home if you don`t like Japan` nado. Fucked gaijin have a right to bitch about Japan if they don`t find the `unique Japanese race` here to be 100 percent correct about everything, everywhere, every place, every time.

In fact these people can manifest a whacked sense of `reality` that explains why they love their `island nation of four seasons and harmony` so much, only leaving it to do us a favor and grace us with their presence when they announce they are doing a homestay in the US/Canada/UK/Australia/NZ whatever and we`re all supposed to think that`s awesome and tell the folks back home to roll out the crysanthenum carpet for them.

I now know why drugs are illegal in Japan - they don`t need them. Their sense of reality is so screwed, they are so whacked out on the propaganda they ingest every day of their life about their uniqueness, dirty gaijin, gaijin crime, nado, that they don`t need drugs. They need drugs to make them sane.

As for the census - you`re probably one of the gaijin with a usual looking workload. I`m one of the fucked gaijin who has no sponsor because I work at different places and none of them qualify as being able to sponsor me. I live in inaka where having free time if you`re a part-time gaijin teacher seems to qualify you as one of those many gaijin criminals who are going to be robbing neighborhoods during hours when salary men are busy with lookin busy.

Final point - fuck them. We don`t figure as human beings in disaster laws and policy, they wander the streets of my country at will without police asking them for compulsory ID unlike me. I get stopped about every month and asked for ID. Reason - I`m a fucked gaijin guy. Stop your counter-bitching in defence of the fucked racists.

[FG Lurker]

I'm not blind to Japan's faults, there are many. However overall I *like* it here, and I like even more the *life* I have built here.

Honestly, if I felt the way about Japan that you do, I would leave. What point is there to staying somewhere that makes you so unhappy?

[Mulboyne]

Statistics Bureau

The preliminary counts of the 2005 Population Census, conducted as of 1 October, were released in December 2005. The results showed that the total population of Japan was 127.76 million. During the 2000-2005 period, Japan's population increased by 0.7% (0.83 million), or 0.1% annually. This was the lowest increase rate during the postwar period. The population of Japan fell below the population estimate as of October 2004. Japan is now entering a phase of population decrease.
Among the most populous countries in the world, Japan ranks tenth following China (1,316 million), India (1,103 million), USA (298 million), Indonesia (223 million), Brazil (186 million), Pakistan (158 million), Russia (143 million), Bangladesh (142 million), and Nigeria (132 million). The population density was 343 persons per square kilometer, ranking fourth following Bangladesh, Korea, and Netherlands.
By gender, the male population was 62.34 million and the number of females was 65.42 million, a ratio of 95.3 males to every 100 females. The gender gap has further widened from 95.8 in the previous census in 2000. The number of households was 49.53 million. During the 2000-2005 period, the number of households increased by 5.2%, a higher increase than the number of persons. The average number of persons in each household declined to 2.58, compared to 2.70 in 2000 and 2.85 in 1995.

[homesweethome]

Then again I live in the inaka where the inbreds show their limitations by my city hall sending me a blurb about how they`re protecting my privacy when I go there to ask for info or whatever, and at the same time the shit for brains inbreds have everybody`s name and address listed on a board near each area of the neighborhood.

I`m doing the `You discriminate against me by your laws and in everyday life and you want me to help you like a citizen when it suits your dumb, racist asses?` act. It would also help if the gene pool was enlarged in Japan but as these people...

You don't need my approval Red but I like your attitude in an FG. You have real hope, why don't you invest some of that energy into enlarging the gene pool?

You will feel better for it, and the Inaka Inbred women won't mind a bit!

They are dying for something different