Professional Documents
Culture Documents
1920 Commemorative stamp for 1st national census of the Empire of Japan
The population of Japan at the time of the Meiji Restoration was estimated to be 34,985,000 on
January 1, 1873,[1] while the official original family registries ( honseki) and de facto (or present
registries ( genj)) populations on the same day were 33,300,644 and 33,416,939, respectively.
These were comparable to the population of the United Kingdom (31,000,000), France (38,000,000)
and Austria-Hungary (38,000,000).
Contents
1 Japan proper
3 References
o 3.1 Books
4 External links
Japan proper
Meiji government established the uniformed registered system of koseki ( family registries) in
1872, which is called Jinshin koseki ().
Year
Mar 8, 1872
Jan 1, 1873
Jan 1, 1874
Jan 1, 1875
Jan 1, 1876
Jan 1, 1877
Jan 1, 1878
Jan 1, 1879
Jan 1, 1880
Jan 1, 1881
Jan 1, 1882
Jan 1, 1883
Jan 1, 1884
Jan 1, 1885
Jan 1, 1886
Dec 31, 1886
Dec 31, 1887
Dec 31, 1888
Dec 31, 1889
Dec 31, 1890
Dec 31, 1891
Dec 31, 1892
Dec 31, 1893
Dec 31, 1894
Dec 31, 1895
Dec 31, 1896
Dec 31, 1897
Dec 31, 1898
Dec 31, 1899
Dec 31, 1900
Dec 31, 1901
Dec 31, 1902
Dec 31, 1903
honseki
A-type de facto
B-type de facto
population
population
population
33,110,796
33,300,644
33,625,646
33,997,415
34,338,367
34,628,328
34,898,540
35,768,547
35,929,023
36,358,955
36,700,079
37,017,262
37,451,727
37,868,949
38,151,217
38,507,177
39,069,691
39,607,234
40,072,020
40,453,461
40,718,677
41,089,940
41,388,313
41,813,215
42,270,620
42,708,264
43,228,863
43,763,855
44,270,495
44,825,597
45,446,369
46,041,768
46,732,876
33,238,011
33,416,939
33,749,932
33,997,250
34,302,068
37,687,645
37,975,069
38,276,376
38,833,415
39,510,146
40,105,479
40,692,808
40,968,835
41,268,732
41,696,847
42,060,976
42,430,985
43,048,226
43,499,833
43,978,495
45,403,041
48,542,736
37,451,800
37,704,100
38,147,600
38,530,400
39,137,100
39,626,600
40,076,500
40,460,300
40,718,800
41,083,400
41,378,600
41,694,700
42,225,300
42,665,300
43,180,400
43,716,400
44,269,900
44,831,300
45,404,700
45,990,000
46,588,000
Estimated population
34,806,000
34,985,000
35,154,000
35,316,000
35,555,000
35,870,000
36,166,000
36,464,000
36,649,000
36,965,000
37,259,000
37,569,000
37,962,000
38,313,000
38,541,000
38,703,000 (as of Jan 1, 1887)
39,029,000 (as of Jan 1, 1888)
39,473,000 (as of Jan 1, 1889)
39,902,000 (as of Jan 1, 1890)
40,251,000 (as of Jan 1, 1891)
40,508,000 (as of Jan 1, 1892)
40,860,000 (as of Jan 1, 1893)
41,142,000 (as of Jan 1, 1894)
41,557,000 (as of Jan 1, 1895)
41,992,000 (as of Jan 1, 1896)
42,400,000 (as of Jan 1, 1897)
42,886,000 (as of Jan 1, 1898)
43,404,000 (as of Jan 1, 1899)
43,847,000 (as of Jan 1, 1900)
44,359,000 (as of Jan 1, 1901)
44,964,000 (as of Jan 1, 1902)
45,546,000 (as of Jan 1, 1903)
46,135,000 (as of Jan 1, 1904)
47,219,566
47,678,396
48,164,761
48,819,630
49,588,804
50,254,471
50,984,844
51,753,934
52,522,753
53,362,682
54,142,441
54,935,755
55,637,431
56,335,971
56,667,711
57,233,906
51,742,486
55,131,270
58,087,277
47,197,600
47,819,300
48,451,100
49,092,000
49,318,300
50,011,700
50,716,600
51,435,400
52,167,000
52,911,800
53,668,600
54,439,400
55,224,500
56,022,700
55,662,900
56,253,200
The first national census based on full sampling of inhabitants was conducted in Japan in 1920, and
was conducted every five years thereafter. Per the Statistics Bureau of the Ministry of Internal
Affairs and Communications, the population distribution of Japan proper from 1920 to 1945 is as
follows [2]
Date
1920-10-01
1925-10-01
1930-10-01
1935-10-01
1940-10-01
1945-11-01
Population
55,963,053
59,736,822
64,450,005
69,254,148
73,114,308
71,998,104
% Change
NA
6.7
7.9
7.5
5.6
-0.7
Area (km2)
381,808.04
381,810.06
382,264.91
382,545.42
382,545.42
377,298.15
Density (km2)
147
156
169
181
191
195
% Urban
18.0
21.6
24.0
32.7
37.7
22.8
The above figures include Hokkaid, the northernmost island, sparsely populated, with area similar
to the state of Maine; the central island of Honsh, larger than Ohio and Indiana, site of the most
important cities and industrial centers; and smaller islands of Kysh and Shikoku, and Okinawa
(except for the 1945 census values).
In Japan proper, the population of major cities was as follows:
City
or
Jan
Dec Dec Dec Dec Dec Dec Dec Oct Oct Oct Oct Oct Feb Nov
1,
31, 31, 31, 31, 31, 31, 31, 1,
1,
1,
1,
1, 22, 1,
Japa
nese 187
town
1886 1889 1893 1898 1903 1908 1913 1920 1925 1930 1935 1940 1944 1945
3
Tky 595, 1,12 1,38 1,21 1,44 1,81 2,18 2,05 2,17 1,99 2,07 5,87 6,77 6,55 2,777
City
or
Jan
Dec Dec Dec Dec Dec Dec Dec Oct Oct Oct Oct Oct Feb Nov
1,
31, 31, 31, 31, 31, 31, 31, 1,
1,
1,
1,
1, 22, 1,
Japa
nese 187
town
1886 1889 1893 1898 1903 1908 1913 1920 1925 1930 1935 1940 1944 1945
3
1,88 9,68
0,12 8,65 6,07 0,12 3,20 5,56 0,52 5,66 8,80 8,16
4,113
,010
3
4
1
5
9
6
1
7
9
7
4
1
1,22 1,39 1,25
2,45 2,98 3,25 2,83
271, 361, 476, 482, 821, 995,
2,114
1,102
saka
6,64 5,82 2,98
2,56 9,87 2,34 3,34
992 694 271 961 235 945
,804
,959
7
3
3
9
4
0
4
1,08 1,32 1,34
Nagoy 125, 131, 162, 194, 244, 288, 378, 452, 429, 768, 907,
597,9
2,81 8,08 4,10
a
193 492 767 796 145 639 231 043 997 558 402
41
6
4
0
1,01
Yokoh
64,6 89,5 121, 152, 193, 326, 394, 397, 422, 405, 620, 704, 968,
624,9
9,46
ama
02 45 985 451 762 035 303 574 938 888 296 290 091
94
6
1,01 1,08
238, 245, 279, 317, 353, 380, 442, 509, 591, 679, 765,
964, 866,1
Kyto
0,59 9,72
663 675 792 270 139 568 462 380 323 963 142
466 53
3
6
40,9 80,4 135, 153, 215, 285, 378, 442, 608, 644, 787, 912, 967, 918, 379,1
Kbe
00 46 639 382 780 002 197 167 644 212 596 179 234 032 66
Kawas
3,12 4,03 5,03 4,89 5,64 5,56 7,23 10,0 21,3 54,6 104, 154, 300, 380, 180,0
[3]
aki
3
1
6
6
7
4
9 60 91 34 346 748 777 919 42
Hirosh
74,3 81,9 88,8 91,4 122, 121, 142, 167, 160, 195, 270, 310,1 343, 336, 137,1
ima
05 14 20 79 306 196 763 130 510 731 365 18 968 483 97
Fukuo
41,6 42,6 53,0 58,1 66,1 71,0 82,1 97,3 95,3 146, 228, 291, 306, 324, 252,2
ka[4]
35 17 14 81 90 47 06 03 81 005 290 158 763 499 82
Yokos 2,81 13,2 24,3 24,3 24,7 36,9 70,9 85,4 89,8 96,3 110,3 182, 193, 298, 202,0
uka
0 51 66 66 50 56 64 78 79 51 04 871 358 132 38
Miyah
ara/
/
11,16 7,33 11,64 21,5 66,0 100, 128, 130, 138, 190, 231, 238, 293, 152,1
Wash n. d.
0
5
8 53 06 679 342 362 863 265 333 195 632 84
/
/
Kure[5]
Nagas
29,6 38,2 55,0 65,3 107, 153, 176, 161, 176, 189, 204, 211,7 252, 270,1 142,7
aki
56 29 63 74 422 293 480 174 534 071 179 02 630 13 48
Amaga
12,4 12,7 13,5 13,9 15,0 18,0 19,8 25,0 38,4 44,2 50,0 71,0 181, 270, 153,0
saki
04 42 80 55 66 06 88 45 61 41 64 72 011 073 51
51,9 61,7 90,2 73,7 83,3 100, 97,9 104, 118,9 142, 190, 219, 223, 261,1 238,2
Sendai
98 09 31 71 25 231 44 141 84 894 177 547 630 17 50
[
Yahata
3,06 2,30 3,01 7,59 22,7 45,6 100, 118,3 168, 208, 261, 252, 151,3
n. d. n. d.
3]
8
9
4
2 67 30 235 76 218 629 309 662 78
Sasebo
8,00 13,1 37,4 68,3 93,0 94,9 87,0 95,3 133, 173, 205, 241, 147,6
n. d. n. d.
[5]
City
or
Jan
Dec Dec Dec Dec Dec Dec Dec Oct Oct Oct Oct Oct Feb Nov
1,
31, 31, 31, 31, 31, 31, 31, 1,
1,
1,
1,
1, 22, 1,
Japa
nese 187
town
1886 1889 1893 1898 1903 1908 1913 1920 1925 1930 1935 1940 1944 1945
3
Sappor
1,78
o
5
38,8
Sakai
38
Shizuo
31,5
ka
55
Kuma
44,6
moto
20
Akama
zeki/ 18,5
/
Shimo
00
noseki
Wakay 61,1
ama
24
Hakod
28,8
ate
25
Kanaz
109,
awa
685
Kagos 27,2
hima
40
Niigat
33,1
a
52
Okaya
32,3
ma
72
Toyam
44,6
a
82
3,90
Otaru
3
39,7
Kchi
57
Tokush
48,8
ima
61
Takam
32,7
atsu
36
39,7
Fukui
84
38,1
Akita
18
15,0
41
44,0
15
36,8
38
44,3
84
16,8
76
48,1
65
37,6
64
52,8
33
27,6
94
46,1
38
37,0
96
62,4
32
37,4
82
50,2
03
42,1
72
61,4
63
55,3
04
54,0
40
48,7
44
59,7
17
70,0
84
61,1
03
53,6
14
61,2
33
96,9
24
67,7
06
64,1
08
68,1
67
102,
580
84,9
99
74,0
93
70,3
88
145,
065
105,
009
84,7
72
147,
174
168,
575
120,
347
136,
481
164,
449
196,
541
141,
286
200,
737
187,
382
30,8 29,9 33,5 42,7 46,2 58,2 72,11 72,3 92,3 98,5 132, 196, 206, 155,6
25 19 65 86 85 54
7 00 17 49 737 022 961 23
54,8
68
45,4
77
97,6
53
45,0
97
40,7
78
32,9
89
53,5
56
15,8
82
30,9
87
57,4
56
37,6
98
37,3
76
29,2
25
68,5 77,3
27 03
85,3 87,8
13 75
99,6 110,9
57 94
59,0 63,6
01 40
59,5 61,6
76 16
81,0 93,4
25 21
56,2 57,4
75 37
79,3 91,2
61 81
35,5 38,2
18 79
63,7 65,5
10 61
37,4 42,5
30 78
50,1 50,3
55 96
34,3 36,2
50 94
77,6 83,5
83 00
99,7 144,
95 749
129, 129,
804 265
75,9 103,
07 180
66,6 92,1
22 30
86,9 94,5
61 85
64,8 61,8
22 12
92,8 108,1
64 13
39,1 49,3
62 29
70,2 68,4
92 57
41,8 46,5
37 50
56,2 56,6
18 39
36,5 36,2
60 81
95,6 117,4
22 37
163, 197,
972 252
147, 157,
420 309
124, 137,
734 232
108, 125,
941 106
124, 139,
521 221
67,4 75,0
90 99
134, 144,
469 884
65,7 96,9
23 91
74,5 90,6
45 22
71,8 79,9
97 06
59,9 64,1
43 99
43,8 51,0
87 70
City
or
Jan
Dec Dec Dec Dec Dec Dec Dec Oct Oct Oct Oct Oct Feb Nov
1,
31, 31, 31, 31, 31, 31, 31, 1,
1,
1,
1,
1, 22, 1,
Japa
nese 187
town
1886 1889 1893 1898 1903 1908 1913 1920 1925 1930 1935 1940 1944 1945
3
Matsu
37,3 33,3 35,9 35,4 34,6 35,0 36,2 38,6 37,5 41,3 44,5 52,0 55,5 54,2 54,03
e
08 81 34 09 51 81 09 31 27 96 02 33 06 82
3
45,3 21,2 19,8 19,2 15,8 18,11 18,0 17,1 14,3 33,2 32,1 32,5 32,2 30,9 38,38
Hagi
18 06 04 74 77
4 69 29 86 25 06 87 70 60
8
44,9 25,5 26,2 25,3 24,8 23,8 25,1 24,1 22,8 20,5 20,1 19,3 17,5 17,9
Shuri
n.d.
84 87 05 59 09 27 41 02 38 82 99 05 37 64
In 1937 Japanese demographers projected the Japanese population in 1980 to reach 100,000,000, in
accordance with observed growth rates.
Korea: 9,918,566
Taiwan: 3,252,589
Karafuto: 26,393
Kwantung: 427,117
Territory
Empire of Japan
Japan Proper
1920-10-01
76,988,379
55,963,053
Area as of
1920
(km2)
83,456,929 90,396,043 97,697,555 103,727,610 674,612.076
59,736,822 64,450,005 69,254,148 73,114,308 381,808.042
1925-10-01
Territory
Taiwan
Korea
Karafuto
Concessions
Kwantung
1920-10-01
1925-10-01
3,655,308
17,264,119
105,899
919,568
688,130
Railway Zone
231,438
288,298
Tsingtao
248,209
To Republic of
China
52,222
56,294
South Pacific
Mandate
Total
78,208,378
372,270
522,645
5,872,084
24,326,327
414,891
1,367,334
1,367,334
To
Manchuria
Area as of
1920
(km2)
35,973.550
220,740.718
36,089.766
4,168.804
3,374.655
242.149
552.000
69,626
102,537
131,258
2,514.026
681,294.906
Japan proper: 73,114,308 (of whom 71,810,022 were Japanese, 1,241,315 were Koreans,
22,499 were Taiwanese, 986 were Karafuto natives, 249 were South Pacific natives, and
39,237 of other nationalities)
Korea: 24,327,326 (of whom 707,742 were Japanese, 23,547,465 were Koreans, 226 were
Taiwanese, 2 were South Pacific natives, and 70,892 of other nationalities)
Formosa: 5,746,959 (of whom 312,386 were Japanese, 5,510,259 were Taiwanese, 2,376
were Koreans, and 47,062 of other nationalities)
Karafuto: 339,357 (of whom 394,603 were Japanese, 19,505 were Koreans, 396 were
Karafuto natives, 35 were Taiwanese, and 352 of other nationalities)
Kwantung: 1,889,123 (of whom 198,188 were Japanese, 6,384 were Koreans, 550 were
Taiwanese, 1,158,083 were of Manchurian nationality, and 4,129 of other nationalities)
South Seas Mandate: 161,792 (of whom 77,011 were Japanese, 50,648 were South Pacific
natives, 3,472 were Koreans, 7 were Taiwanese, and 120 of other nationalities)
Total: 105,226,202 (of whom 73,499,952 were Japanese, 24,820,517 were Koreans, 5,533,576 were
Taiwanese, 50,899 were South Pacific natives, 1,382 were Karafuto natives, 1,158,083 were of
Manchurian nationality in Kwangtung, and 161,792 of other nationalities)
Rank
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
City
Keij
Fuzan
Heij
Jinsen
Taihoku
Tainan
Krun
1890 census
1,165,000
NA
NA
NA
78,000
NA
NA
1910 census
230,000
81,000
40,000
30,000
95,000
44,000
NA
1920 census
247,000
74,000
60,000
40,000
164,000
112,000
48,000
1930 census
350,000
130,000
137,000
54,000
249,000
166,000
79,000
1940 census
1,100,000
400,000
286,000
171,000
326,000
296,000
100,000
Year
1897
1900
1920
1925
1930
1935
1940
1945
2,728,800
3,046,000
3,654,900
3,994,900
4,679,100
5,212,400
5,872,100
6,940,000
Population
(Korea)
NA
11,310,000
17,264,100
19,522,900
21,058,300
22,899,000
24,730,000
27,275,000
Manchukuo
The population of Manchuria in early 1934 was estimated at 30,880,000. These numbers included
30,190,000 Chinese, 590,760 Japanese, and 98,431 other nationalities (Russians, Mongols, etc.). The
Chinese numbers included 680,000 ethnic Koreans. In 1937, shortly after the foundation of
Manchukuo, the government launched a twenty-year colonization program, with the goal of
increasing the population through the immigration of 1,000,000 Japanese families (5 million people)
between 1936 and 1956. This was in addition to the Japanese military garrison of approximately
300,000 men in 1937. Between 1938 and 1942 a contingent of young farmers of 200,000 arrived in
Manchukuo; joining this group after 1936 were 20,000 complete families. In Shinky Japanese made
up 25% of the population. By 1940, the total population of Manchukuo was estimated at 36,933,000,
which included approximately 1 million Japanese civilian and 500,000 Japanese military personnel.
These figures exclude that of the Kwantung Leased Territory and Dalien, which were included
within that of the Japanese overseas territories.
References
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Books
Taeuber Irene B., and Beal, Edwin G. The Demographic Heritage of the Japanese Empire,
Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, Vol. 237, World Population
in Transition (Jan., 1945), pp. 6471
External links
Kindai Digital Library at the National Diet Libray of Japan (original texts in Japanese)
o Imperial Japan Static Population Statistics as of December 31, 1908 (de facto
populations since 1885 with French notations)
o Japan Registered Population Tables as of January 1, 1874 (Japanese only)
Demographics of Japan
Empire of Japan