Treaties, Laws and Speeches

JAPAN'S POPULATION EXCEEDS A HUNDRED MILLION

BOARD OF INFORMATION

ACCORDING to the 1940 census, taken on October 1, 1940, and made public on April 18, 1941, the population of Japan including Japan Proper, Tyosen, Taiwan, Karahuto, the Kwantung Leased Territory and the South Sea Islands, totals 105,226,101, representing an increase of approximately 6,300,000 or about 6.5 per cent as compared with 1935, when the last census was taken.

Of the new total, 52,896,862 are male and 52,329,239 female, while Japan Proper claims a total population of 73,114,308. How Japan's population has continued to increase since 1920, when the first national census was taken, is shown in the following table:

It may be noted in the above table that the rate of increase in population for the entire territory has fallen off both in number and percentage as compared with the previous census figures. As for the total population of Japan Proper, the new total represents an increase of approximately 3,860,000 over the 1935 figure, the rate of increase being nearly the same as that shown in the 1925 census over the 1920 figure but showing a decrease of approximately a million as compared with 1930 or 1935. This decrease in the rate of increase is apparently due to a decrease made in the rate of natural increase in population consequent upon the hostilities in China and also to the increased migration of Japanese to the Continent and overseas territories.

Of the total 47 prefectures in Japan Proper, the population has increased during the last five years in 33 including Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka, Kanagawa, Hyogo, Nagasaki, Niigata, Saitama, Gunma, Tiba, Ibaraki, Totigi, Nara, Mie, Aiti, Sizuoka, Yamanasi, Gihu,

Miyagi, Hukusima, Iwate, Aomori, Yamagata, Akita, Toyama, Hirosima, Yamaguti, Wakayama, Ehime, Hukuoka, Saga, Miyazaki and Hokkaido. Among these prefectures, the rise in population is the most remarkable in Tokyo which is credited with an increase of little over 985,000, followed by Osaka with 495,000, Kanagawa with 348,000, Hyogo with 297,000, Aiti with 303,000 and Hukuoka with 338,000, the rate of increase being over 10 per cent for any of these prefectures.

The remaining 14 prefectures, comprising Siga, Nagano, Hukui, Isikawa, Tottori, Simane, Okayama, Tokusima, Kagawa, Koti, Oita, Kumamoto, Kagosima and Okinawa, have shown decreases, most notably in Isikawa, Tokusima, Kagawa, Kumamoto and Okinawa, the population having fallen off by between 10,000 and 18,000 in each of these prefectures. In this connection it may be noted that all these districts are situated west of Tokyo. It may also be of some interest that but few prefectures had previously shown decreases in population, the only such instances being Nagano, Koti and Saga prefectures, where the population fell off during the 1930-35 period. The fact that in the 1940 census as many as 14 prefectures are credited with less people than before may be taken to indicate a recent trend of population shifting from certain prefectures to certain others.

Among the various cities in Japan Proper, the rate of increase in population as shown in the 1940 census is the highest for Amagasaki with a rise of 154 per cent, followed by Kawasaki with 94 per cent.

Of the six major cities the recent increase in population has been the largest in number for Tokyo and in percentage for Yokohama as compared with 1935, while the population of Kyoto remains practically unchanged.

The census returns for these six cities follow:

Of the total population for Japan Proper, the urban areas claim a total of a little over 27,577,000 or approximately 38 per cent and the rural areas a little over 45,536,000 or approximately 62 per cent.

The 1940 census covers all the inhabitants of Japanese territory,

both Japanese and natives of the overseas territories, not excluding even those serving the army and navy outside Japanese territory, the latter having been entered in the census by the heads or other responsible members of their families. No such entries as these were made in the previous censuses. Therefore, the figures given in the two tables that follow, which set forth further details of the 1940 census, do not necessarily represent the exact numbers of those inhabiting the respective areas at the time of the recent census.

FINAL RETURNS OF THE 1940 CENSUS FOR THE EMPIRE

FINAL RETURNS BY PREFECTURES FOR JAPAN PROPER

(FINAL RETURNS BY PREFECTURES, CONTINUED)