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Japan’s civil registration system is founded on the 1872 Family Registration Law. The family registration system (koseki) works alongside the resident registration system (jūminhyō). The former describes the family relations, and events such as births, deaths or marriage, when the latter includes more personal details. All events or change in details have to be notified by residents to their municipality. Municipalities then fill vital statistics reports, which are progressively aggregated up to the national level, where detailed reports are regularly published by the Statistics Bureau of Japan.
Mr. Hitoshi Kozaki, Head of International Organization Department and Deputy Permanent Representative to ESCAP, Embassy of Japan
Goal 1. Universal civil registration of births, deaths and other vital events |
Goal 1 Targets:
Goal 2. All individuals are provided with legal documentation of civil registration of births, deaths and other vital events, as necessary, to claim identity, civil status and ensuing rights |
Goal 2 Targets:
Goal 3. Accurate, complete and timely vital statistics (including on causes of death) are produced based on registration records and are disseminated |
Goal 3 Targets:
Goal 1. Universal civil registration of births, deaths and other vital events |
Goal 1 is an expression of the internationally accepted principle of the universal coverage of civil registration. The CRVS system should register all vital events occurring in the territory and jurisdiction of the country or area, including among hard-to-reach and marginalized populations.
National Targets:
BASELINE
2014100%
MIDTERM
201799%
MIDTERM
2000100%
baseline
2014100%
MIDTERM
2018100%
baseline
201499%
MIDTERM
201799%
baseline
2014100%
MIDTERM
2017100%
Goal 2. All individuals are provided with legal documentation of civil registration of births, deaths and other vital events, as necessary, to claim identity, civil status and ensuing rights |
Goal 2 reflects that CRVS systems provide legal documentation of civil registration to individuals and families for legal and administrative purposes. Legal documentation is strongly linked with a broad range of rights and activities, in particular legal identity. This goal addresses the distinction between the civil registration of a vital event and the possession of formal proof that it took place, in the form of legal documentation.
National Targets:
baseline
2013100%
MIDTERM
2017100%
baseline
2013100%
MIDTERM
2017100%
Goal 3. Accurate, complete and timely vital statistics (including on causes of death) are produced based on registration records and are disseminated |
Goal 3 highlights the critical importance of civil registration being linked to the production and quality assurance of vital statistics on the occurrence and characteristics of vital events.
National Targets:
TARGET
Target achieved
TARGET
Target achieved
Note: This target was not monitored as part of the Midterm Questionnaire on the Implementation of the Regional Action Framework for CRVS in Asia and the Pacific.
TARGET
Target achieved
baseline
20130.9%
MIDTERM
20171.2%
Note: In light of recent countries’ experiences, Verbal autopsy is not encouraged to be applied to a large population scale, but rather on a representative sample. To reflect this, Target 3E is not anymore monitored by the coverage percentage of Verbal autopsy, but by the use or not of Verbal autopsy and its different applications.
MIDTERM
No
TARGET
Target achieved
TARGET
Target achieved
TARGET
Target achieved

National Coordination Mechanism
Status in Japan: Not started

Comprehensive Assessment
Status in Japan: Not started

National Targets for 2024
Status in Japan: Not started

Monitoring & Reporting Plan
Status in Japan: Not started

Inequality Assessment
Status in Japan: Not started

National Strategy
Status in Japan: Not started

National Focal Point
Status in Japan: Complete

Reporting to ESCAP - Baseline
Status in Japan: Complete

Reporting to ESCAP - Midterm
Status in Japan: Complete
Japan’s civil registration system is founded on the 1872 Family Registration Law. The family registration system (koseki) works alongside the resident registration system (jūminhyō). The former describes the family relations, and events such as births, deaths or marriage, when the latter includes more personal details. All events or change in details have to be notified by residents to their municipality. Municipalities then fill vital statistics reports, which are progressively aggregated up to the national level, where detailed reports are regularly published by the Statistics Bureau of Japan.
Mr. Hitoshi Kozaki, Head of International Organization Department and Deputy Permanent Representative to ESCAP, Embassy of Japan