Japon Ichi, le site de ceux qui aiment le Japon Authentique

A peu de temps du francais, s'est deroule le recensement national japonais 2005. L'operation etait annoncee avec site internet en cinq langues (cliquer ici), force affichettes et spots televises, le tout faisant apparaitre pour la premiere fois un etranger (Daniel Karl en l'occurence) car le message etait clair: cette enquete en principe obligatoire, etait censee s'adresser a toute personne residant sur le sol nippon afin de permettre de dresser le portrait-robot de ce qu'est le Japon d'aujourd'hui, afin de mieux accompagner ce qu'il sera demain.

Helas, le sens civique etant ce qu'il est aujourd'hui et a cause de nombreux petits "flottements", ce recensement aura connu bien des deboires.
Le recensement qui devait faire ressortir les permanences et les evolutions de la societe japonaise, aura souleve un lievre inattendu: les citoyens d'aujourd'hui se mefient, voire se defient de ces enquetes d'interet national, et a plus d'un titre. Les japonais ne seraient-ils donc plus aussi dociles qu'il y a seulement quelques annees ?

Parmi les raisons invoquees pour justifier cette relative hostilite d'une part croissante des sondes a l'egard du recensement 2005:
_ son cout excessif: 65 milliards de yens.
_ ses methodes jugees desormais, par trop intrusives.
_ ses derapages, tel que le manque de surveillance des documents remplis et voles sans probleme par des escrocs qui ont pu s'en servir a plus d'une fin.
_ l'indiscretion de certains enqueteurs, qui n'avaient pas hesite (par maladresse certainement plus que par curiosite) a decacheter des enveloppes confidentielles pour en "controler" le contenu.
_ le manque de vigilance de la part des autorites publiques: on avait ainsi pu lors de l'enquete, et en quelques jours a peine, relever 336 cas litigieux, dont 173 cas d'usurpation de qualite de la part de faux enqueteurs qui avaient eu par la meme, l'occasion de relever des informations confidentielles, voire d'extorquer des especes a des sondes "trop naifs" (on dit toujours "trop naif" quand il s'agit des autres...).

Or nous voila en ce 6 mai 2006, et les chiffres de "l'abstention" est tombe: 570.000 foyers (soit 11,3% des sondes) ont refuse de se preter a l'enquete nationale. Rien que sur la region de Tokyo, 20% des foyers se sont dispenses de repondre aux questions qui leur etaient posees, ce qui au final, jete un certain doute sur les resultats obtenus par ailleurs.

Alors certes, les enqueteurs expliquent plus volontiers l'echec de leur mission par des phenomenes divers allant de la croissance rapide de la population dans certains secteurs, chiffre imprevu depassant la capacite d'action des personnes chargees de ratisser telle ou telle etendue de terrain, ou meme, la generalisation des portes a code a l'entree de certains immeubles modernes a la securite renforcee...

Quelles que soient les raisons du ratage, pour le Ministere de l'Interieur et de la Communication, le resultat est la: les chiffres reccueillis ne sont plus credibles, ce qui pose a court terme deja un gros probleme en matiere de distribution budgetaire car les montants des prelevements obligatoires nationaux redistribues sur le plan local, se doivent de respecter la dispersion geographique de la population...

C'est pourquoi ledit ministere, vient de mettre sur pied une commission de reflexion afin de tirer les consequences de l'echec du recensement 2005, et de reformer les methodes employees en vu du prochain recensement national, celui de 2010.

Et en attendant, il est rappele a tout un chacun, que tout refus de se preter au recensement national, est passible d'une amende pouvant atteindre 100.000 yens, et d'une peine de prison maximum de six mois.

Pour plus de details, voyez ce qu'il en est dit dans l'article paru hier dans le quotidien national japonais YOMIURI SHIMBUN.

Tokyo census data down 11.3% / Households in the capital fail to submit national census information

About 570,000 households, or 11.3 percent, in Tokyo did not submit response sheets for the national census in October last year, according to the Internal Affairs and Communications Ministry.

The rates in eight areas in central and western Tokyo exceeded 20 percent, casting serious doubt on the trustworthiness of the national census.

The lower rates were partly because census workers could not contact a sharply increasing number of residents. The ministry also assumed it was because of people overreacting to concerns about protecting personal information.

It is the basic premise of the national census that all people living in the nation are covered. The ministry is scheduled to release the failure rates in each area late this month.

Ministry officials voiced concern that the sharply lower collection rates may damage the trustworthiness of data, such as population, in the national census.

According to the Tokyo metropolitan government, Chuo Ward recorded the highest failure rate at 30.3 percent among Tokyo's 23 wards and municipalities.

It was followed by 29.9 percent in Machida, in western Tokyo; 25.5 percent in Shibuya Ward; 25.2 percent in Shinagawa Ward; and 23.7 percent in Shinjuku Ward.

In the previous national census in 2000, no area recorded a failure rate above 20 percent and the figure for the entire Tokyo area was 5.9 percent.

According to the interim results of the census released by the ministry in March, the failure rate for the nation was 4.1 percent, compared with 1.7 percent in the 2000 census.

The rates in central Tokyo were remarkably high, ministry officials said.

The metropolitan government concluded that interviews by census workers have been more difficult because of the increase in condominiums with automatically locking doors, single households and working couples, as well as people's higher consciousness about crime prevention.

In Chuo Ward, the number of residents in their 30s increased by more than 10,000 between 1999 and January this year. Most of the newcomers live in condominiums.

Also, a remarkable number of residents refused the census due to misconceptions regarding the law protecting personal information, which was enacted in April last year.

When census workers cannot collect response sheets, they are obliged to obtain basic information about households from neighbors or other sources.

Though census workers are authorized to ask for the name of the head of the household, the number of persons who live there, and their gender, caretakers of condominiums or nearby residents refused to cooperate in many cases, in order to protect personal information.

In those cases, local government officials provided the missed data using information in the Basic Resident Register files.

Data obtained in this way was less accurate than that obtained through census sheets as some households had failed to renew their resident registration after moving to other municipalities.

Under the Statistics Law, residents of Japan must take part in the national census every five years, with the data collected exempt from the law protecting personal information.

Those who refuse to respond to the census face criminal punishment--up to six months in prison or a fine of up to 100,000 yen.

The trustworthiness of the national census is extremely important for central and local governments because the information is used to decide ways of distributing tax revenue from the central government to local governments, the number of Diet members elected from each constituency, and as basic data for policy decisions.

Shocked by the lower collection rates, the ministry has asked an expert panel to consider measures to reform the national census, to be drafted by the end of July.

May. 5, 2006

La video du rencensement 2005 japonais est toujours consultable sur le lien suivant:

mms://stream1.gekimedia.net/entry1/wmt/swa00041/30(300k).wmv
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