Japan Government Statistics Analyzer

Your comprehensive gateway to Japan's official government statistics. Extract, normalize, and analyze a vast range of data from the e-Stat API for market research, economic analysis, and academic studies.

This Apify Actor provides a powerful and easy-to-use interface to access the rich dataset provided by the e-Stat API, the official portal for Japanese government statistics. It automates the process of searching, fetching, and normalizing complex statistical data, making it immediately available for your analysis pipelines.

How It Works

The Actor follows a systematic process to deliver clean and structured data:

graph TD
    A[User Input] --> B{Japan Statistics Analyzer};
    B -- 1. Search Tables --> C[e-Stat API];
    C -- 2. List of Tables --> B;
    B -- 3. For each table --> D{Process Table};
    D -- 4. Get Metadata --> C;
    C -- 5. Metadata --> D;
    D -- 6. Get Stats Data --> C;
    C -- 7. Raw Data --> D;
    D -- 8. Normalize Data --> E[Structured JSON];
    E --> F[Apify Dataset];

1. Search Tables: The Actor queries the e-Stat API with your specified keywords, survey years, or statistical fields to find relevant data tables.
2. Retrieve Metadata: For each table found, it fetches detailed metadata, including category definitions, units, and survey information.
3. Fetch Statistical Data: The Actor then retrieves the core statistical data from each table.
4. Normalize and Structure: The raw data is transformed into a clean, easy-to-use JSON format. This process includes mapping codes to human-readable names and structuring the data logically.
5. Deliver Results: The final structured data, along with raw data and metadata (if requested), is pushed to the Apify Dataset for you to download or use in other Actors.

Key Features

• Comprehensive Data Access: Tap into a wide array of official statistics, including population census, economic indicators, labor force surveys, and more.
• Flexible Search: Pinpoint the exact data you need using keywords, survey years, and official statistical field codes.
• Dual Output Format: Choose between clean, normalized structured JSON for easy analysis, raw JSON for full detail, or both.
• Demo Mode: Run the Actor without an API key to see sample data and understand its capabilities. Perfect for evaluation.
• Robust Error Handling: Automatically handles common API errors and provides clear feedback.
• Built-in Rate Limiting: Respects API usage limits with a built-in delay between requests to ensure reliable operation.

Getting Started

Demo Mode (No API Key)

To test the Actor, simply run it with the default input settings. It will operate in Demo Mode and produce a small set of sample data, allowing you to inspect the output format and features.

Full Access (e-Stat API Key)

For full access to the e-Stat database, you need a free Application ID:

1. Register: Go to the e-Stat API Registration Page and create a free account.
2. Get API Key: Once registered, you will receive an appId (Application ID).
3. Set Environment Variable: In your Apify account's secret environment variables, create a new variable named ESTAT_APP_ID and set its value to your appId.

The Actor will automatically use this key for all subsequent runs.

Input Configuration

Provide your search criteria using a JSON object. Below are the available parameters and examples.

Parameter	Type	Description	Default
searchKeyword	String	Search term for statistical tables (e.g., "人口", "経済", "労働"). Use Japanese for best results.	""
surveyYears	String	Filter by specific survey years. Can be a single year ("2020") or a range ("2019-2021").	""
statsField	String	A specific statistical field code for fine-grained filtering.	""
maxItems	Number	Maximum number of statistical tables to process. Range: 1-100.	10
includeMetadata	Boolean	If true, includes a detailed metadata object for each data point.	true
outputFormat	String	Output format. Options: "structured", "raw", or "both".	"structured"

Example: Basic Population Search

This input will search for the 5 most recent population-related statistical tables.

{
  "searchKeyword": "人口",
  "maxItems": 5
}

Example: Advanced Economic Search

This input searches for GDP data from the year 2022 and requests both the raw and structured output.

{
  "searchKeyword": "国内総生産",
  "surveyYears": "2022",
  "maxItems": 1,
  "outputFormat": "both"
}

Output Data

The Actor outputs data in a structured JSON format, designed for easy analysis.

Field	Type	Description
statName	String	The official name of the statistic (e.g., "国勢調査 人口総数").
surveyDate	String	The date or period of the survey (e.g., "2020年").
region	String	The geographical area the data pertains to (e.g., "全国" for 'All Japan').
category1	String	The primary data category.
category2	String	A secondary data category for more detailed classification.
value	Number	The statistical value.
unit	String	The unit of measurement (e.g., "人" for 'people', "円" for 'yen').
sourceTableId	String	The unique ID of the source table in the e-Stat database.
dataType	String	An inferred data type for easier filtering (e.g., population, economic).
lastUpdated	String	The date the source data was last updated, in ISO 8601 format.
metadata	Object	A comprehensive object containing detailed metadata (if includeMetadata is true).
extractedAt	String	The timestamp when the data was extracted, in ISO 8601 format.

Sample Output Record

{
  "statName": "国勢調査 人口総数",
  "surveyDate": "2020年",
  "region": "全国",
  "category1": "総人口",
  "category2": "男女計",
  "value": 125836021,
  "unit": "人",
  "sourceTableId": "0003448738",
  "dataType": "population",
  "lastUpdated": "2021-06-25T00:00:00Z",
  "metadata": {
    "tableTitle": "国勢調査 人口総数",
    "categories": {
      "area": "全国",
      "gender": "男女計"
    }
  },
  "extractedAt": "2025-09-18T12:00:43.317Z"
}

Disclaimer

This Actor is an independent tool and is not affiliated with the Japanese government or the e-Stat portal. It is designed to respect the e-Stat API's terms of service by implementing rate limiting. Users are responsible for ensuring their use case complies with the API's usage guidelines, especially for commercial purposes.