Page 227 - Special Topic Session (STS) - Volume 3

STS541 Masao T. et al.
results, the SBJ analyzed the social and economic trends after the earthquake
and published them with commentary.
In the following, we will introduce the measures taken after the disaster in
a timeline, i.e., release of regular monthly statistics, the processing of statistical
information for rescue and recovery in the damaged areas, and the analyses
on the effects of the earthquake.

3. Measures taken in the Monthly Statistics
For the regular monthly statistics, the SBJ devised various measures in
estimating and aggregating the statistics keeping the release schedule to
avoid inconvenience to the statistical users as far as possible.
Since the earthquake occurred in March 2011, it became extremely difficult
to conduct various monthly statistical surveys, especially in the Pacific coastal
areas of the Tohoku region. As the influence of the disaster on the statistical
results was different for each survey depending on the size and the method of
the sampling of the survey, the SBJ produced and disseminated the statistics
by adopting an appropriate estimation method for each survey in accordance
with the characteristics of the survey.
In the Labour Force Survey which was most affected by the earthquake, it
was not possible to produce the statistics of “All Japan” as usual, because the
survey could not be taken in the Pacific coastal region of Iwate, Miyagi and
Fukushima Prefectures (hereinafter referred to as "Tohoku Three Prefectures").
After the earthquake in March 2011, the SBJ began releasing the results of "All
Japan excluding Tohoku Three Prefectures" instead of "All Japan." In this
connection, the statistics of "All Japan excluding Tohoku Three Prefectures"
for the previous year were also produced to enable monthly comparison with
the previous year on the basis of the same geographical coverage. The SBJ
also published reference information such as changes in the estimation
method and the extent of the impact of the earthquake in the three
prefectures of Tohoku. Since September 2011, the SBJ was able to resume the
survey in the Tohoku Three Prefectures, and the results of "All Japan" came to
be published as before.

4. Provision of Statistical Information to Support Rescue and
Restoration Operations
Immediately after the disaster, it was necessary for the government to
understand the size of the damage, the extent of the affected areas, and the
population size and distribution for rescue in the disaster areas. After the
immediate aid operations, when the government started the planning for the
renovation of the disaster-stricken areas, data describing the social and
economic conditions of the region immediately before the disaster was

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