Japan e-Stat Official Statistics (Official API v3.0)

Search and download Japan's official government statistics through the official e-Stat API v3.0 (JSON) — find any statistical table, then pull its values with every dimension (area, sex, age, time…) resolved to readable English names.

This Actor is a thin, polite client for the official e-Stat API v3.0 (api.e-stat.go.jp) of Japan's Portal Site of Official Statistics (政府統計の総合窓口). It is not a scraper — it calls the documented JSON API the way the Statistics Bureau intends, using your own e-Stat application ID, and returns each result as a flat record with a legal envelope (source / sourceUrl / license / retrievedAt) on every item.

Unofficial tool. Independently built and maintained. Not affiliated with, endorsed by, or connected to the Statistics Bureau of Japan, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, or the National Statistics Center. e-Stat data is provided under the 政府標準利用規約（第2.0版） (Government Standard Terms of Use v2.0), which permits commercial reuse with attribution; the required 出典 statement 「出典：政府統計の総合窓口(e-Stat)」 is embedded in the license of every record.

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Quick start — verified input

Copy, paste, replace the key, run (verified against mock API fixtures in npm test; a live run needs your own application ID — see the next section for how to get one in two minutes):

{
  "appId": "<your key>",
  "mode": "search_tables",
  "searchWord": "人口",
  "maxItems": 100
}

Get the key at https://www.e-stat.go.jp/mypage/user/preregister (free) → マイページ → API機能（アプリケーションID発行） → copy the appId. Then download a table's values with {"mode": "get_data", "statsDataId": "<id from the search output>"}.

⚠️ You need your own e-Stat application ID

This Actor does not bundle an API key. You must supply your own free e-Stat application ID in the appId input.

1. Register a free e-Stat account: https://www.e-stat.go.jp/mypage/user/preregister
2. Issue an application ID (アプリケーションID) from your e-Stat My Page.
3. Paste it into this Actor's appId field (it is stored as a secret and redacted from all logs).

Why this design? The e-Stat API terms of use, 第3条第2項, state: 「利用者は、発行を受けたアプリケーションIDを、第三者に譲渡・貸与してはならないものとします。」 — an application ID may not be transferred or lent to a third party. So this Actor never embeds a shared key: by running under your ID, every call stays inside your own e-Stat registration and any access limits apply to you. Compliance with the e-Stat API terms of use is the responsibility of the application-ID holder — i.e. you.

Source-display obligation (出典表示義務)

e-Stat data is released under the 政府標準利用規約（第2.0版）, which requires the source to be displayed. This Actor embeds the credit 「出典：政府統計の総合窓口(e-Stat)（https://www.e-stat.go.jp/）」 verbatim in the license field of every record. If you display or republish the data, keep that credit visible.

Two modes

1. search_tables — find statistical tables (getStatsList)

Give a searchWord (free text, supports AND / OR / NOT) and/or a statsCode, and get back the matching statistical tables: their statsDataId, statistic name, table title, creating agency, survey/open dates, and a tableUrl deep link. At least one of searchWord / statsCode is required (this is a targeted search, not a full-catalogue dump).

2. get_data — download a table's values (getStatsData)

Give a statsDataId (from a search_tables run) and get one record per statistical value, with each dimension code resolved to its name. Optionally narrow with narrowingCond (e-Stat classification codes: cdArea, cdTime, cdTab, cdCat01–cdCat03).

Sample output

search_tables (dataset item):

{
  "statsDataId": "0003448233",
  "statsName": "Population Census",
  "title": "Population by Age (5-Year Groups) and Sex - Japan, Prefectures",
  "govOrg": "Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications",
  "statField": "Population and Households",
  "surveyDate": "202010",
  "openDate": "2021-11-30",
  "smallArea": 0,
  "overallTotalNumber": 47088,
  "tableUrl": "https://www.e-stat.go.jp/dbview?sid=0003448233",
  "source": "政府統計の総合窓口(e-Stat) API / Portal Site of Official Statistics of Japan (e-Stat), Statistics Bureau of Japan",
  "sourceUrl": "https://www.e-stat.go.jp/api/",
  "license": "出典：政府統計の総合窓口(e-Stat)（https://www.e-stat.go.jp/）。政府標準利用規約（第2.0版）… Unofficial …",
  "retrievedAt": "2026-08-26T09:12:44Z"
}

get_data (dataset item):

{
  "statsDataId": "0003448233",
  "value": 126146099,
  "valueRaw": "126146099",
  "unit": "person",
  "time": "2020",
  "timeCode": "2020000000",
  "area": "All Japan",
  "areaCode": "00000",
  "dimensions": [
    { "id": "tab", "name": "Tabulated items", "code": "020", "label": "Population", "unit": "person" },
    { "id": "cat01", "name": "Sex", "code": "000", "label": "Both sexes", "unit": null },
    { "id": "area", "name": "Area", "code": "00000", "label": "All Japan", "unit": null },
    { "id": "time", "name": "Time", "code": "2020000000", "label": "2020", "unit": null }
  ],
  "source": "政府統計の総合窓口(e-Stat) API …",
  "sourceUrl": "https://www.e-stat.go.jp/api/",
  "license": "出典：政府統計の総合窓口(e-Stat) …",
  "retrievedAt": "2026-08-26T09:12:44Z"
}

When the source publishes a non-number (e.g. - = not applicable, *** = not available), value is null and the original marker is kept in valueRaw — passed through honestly rather than zero-filled.

Input example

{
  "appId": "<your key>",
  "mode": "get_data",
  "statsDataId": "0003448233",
  "narrowingCond": { "cdArea": "13000", "cdTime": "2020000000" },
  "lang": "E",
  "maxItems": 5000
}

Common input mistakes

Mistake	Correct
"appId": "<your key>" left as is / empty	paste your real e-Stat appId (the run fails immediately with a link to get one)
{"appId": "…", "mode": "search_tables"} with no searchWord/statsCode	add "searchWord": "人口"
{"mode": "search_tables", "statsDataId": "0003448233"}	"mode": "get_data" — statsDataId is a get_data field (the Actor switches for you when mode is omitted)
"statsCode": "国勢調査"	the 8-digit code: "00200521"
"surveyYears": "2015-2020"	"2015", "202010" or "201501-202012" (yyyymm ranges)
"lang": "jp" / "japanese"	accepted — canonical values are "E" / "J"
"narrowingCond": {"area": "13000"}	key names are cdArea, cdTime, cdTab, cdCat01–cdCat03

Empty results?

A run that finds nothing completes with 0 items and a warning in the log (not a failure). Typical causes: an English searchWord (most tables are indexed in Japanese — try 人口 instead of population), a surveyYears window in which the statistic was not surveyed, or a narrowingCond code that is not one of the table's own classification codes (get the codes from the table's metadata first). Broaden the search or drop the filter and retry. e-Stat returns a RESULT.STATUS error for a bad appId — that fails the run visibly.

Pricing

Pay per result — see the pricing tab. A search_tables run is a handful of tables; a get_data run is one record per statistical value and can be large, so use narrowingCond and maxItems to scope it.

FAQ

Is this official? No. Unofficial, not affiliated with the Statistics Bureau of Japan. It is a client of e-Stat's official public API.

Why is appId required and not provided? Because the e-Stat terms forbid transferring an application ID to a third party (第3条第2項). Your ID stays yours; it is entered as a secret and redacted from all logs.

How fresh is the data? Live at request time — it is the same data e-Stat serves through its API.

What languages are the names in? Set lang to E (English, default) or J (Japanese). e-Stat returns English names where the table provides them; otherwise names come through in Japanese.

Any privacy concerns? None by construction: e-Stat publishes aggregate official statistics. Automated tests still assert no personal-data-shaped strings and full source attribution on every record.

Rate limits / server load? One sequential connection, ≥ 1.5 s between requests, exponential backoff on 429/5xx, a hard per-run request budget, and no rate-limit evasion — the e-Stat terms (第8条) forbid 「短時間における大量のアクセス」, so a persistent block fails the run visibly.

Search terms this Actor answers

japan government statistics api · e-stat data · japan census data · japan official statistics english · e-Stat API actor · japan population statistics · japan economic statistics api · Statistics Bureau of Japan data · japan prefecture statistics · 政府統計 e-Stat API

Note for the Apify automated build test

This Actor requires a valid personal e-Stat appId (secret) to make any live call, so Apify's default automated run test cannot pass unattended (no key). An automated-test exemption is requested for this Actor (same handling as other key-required API Actors). Functionality is covered by the unit test suite (npm test, 27 tests) over mock API fixtures; a live run needs the buyer's own application ID.

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Official API: e-Stat API v3.0 — https://www.e-stat.go.jp/api/ . Terms: https://www.e-stat.go.jp/api/terms-of-use (政府標準利用規約 v2.0, commercial use permitted with attribution — embedded in every record). Credit 「出典：政府統計の総合窓口(e-Stat)」 is embedded in every record. Unofficial; not affiliated with the Statistics Bureau of Japan.