estatjp 0.1.1

A Python package for accessing Japanese government data on its e-Stat portal

estatjp

E-Stat is a widely used portal site for accessing Japanese governmental statistical data. Began operation in 2008. e-Stat currently hosts 744 surveys (1,688,550 datasets) in Japanese from about 30 governmental agencies with 56 surveys (292,856 datasets) available in English. These collections contain 'databases' and files (mainly Excel files). The 'databases' can be accessed via an API. API urls can cover entire databases or subsets that can be tailored to users' individual needs.

The objective of the estatjp Python package is to provide access to the e-Stat portal and return datasets in pandas.DataFrame format.

For example, the e-Stat API returns CSV streams that contain headers with metadata. These headers interfere with pandas.get_csv. The first release of estatjp returns a dictionary that contains the header and main table as separate dataframes.

Requirement

The e-Stat API requires an application ID that can be obtained from the E-Stat API page. Install this ID into your project by setting your terminal to your project root and running the following commands:

pip install python-dotenv
dotenv set ESTAT_APP_ID your-app-id

Install this package

pip install estatjp

Example

This example downloads an English dataset, the Labour Force Survey Basic Tabulation Whole Japan Monthly table Population of 15 years old and over by labour force status. The API url for that table is assigned to enurl below.

import pandas
from dotenv import load_dotenv
from estatjp import api
enurl = 'http://api.e-stat.go.jp/rest/3.0/app/getSimpleStatsData?appId=&lang=E&statsDataId=0003005798&metaGetFlg=Y&cntGetFlg=N&explanationGetFlg=Y&annotationGetFlg=Y&sectionHeaderFlg=1&replaceSpChars=0'
dfs = api.get_csv_data(enurl)
print(dfs.get('Header'))
print(dfs.get('Main'))
print(dfs.get('Description'))

References

Ashikawa, Souta, Matsuda, Junichi, & Osone, Tadashi. (2022). Method for improving the recall in e-stat data search. Proceedings of Annual Conference of the Information Systems Society in Japan ISSJ2022, S1–C1. https://doi.org/10.19014/proceedingsissj.18.0_S1-C1

Ashikawa, Souta, Matsuda, Junichi, & Osone, Tadashi. (2023). Development of front-end search system improving recall in e-stat. Proceedings of Annual Conference of the Information Systems Society in Japan ISSJ2023, 1–6. https://doi.org/10.19014/proceedingsissj.19.0_P001

cocosan. (2023). Python apuri: Seifu tokei e-stat wo shigoto ni ikase! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hiaK-jTXpCI.

Higashi, Takahiro, & Kurokawa, Yukinori. (2024). Incidence, mortality, survival, and treatment statistics of cancers in digestive organs—japanese cancer statistics 2024. Annals of Gastroenterological Surgery, 8(6), 958–965. https://doi.org/10.1002/ags3.12835

Inoue, Takao. (2023). A self-made tutorial for GitHub flavored markdown (GFM), and its source codes. ResearchGate. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/370937551_A_self-made_tutorial_for_GitHub_Flavored_Markdown_GFM_and_its_source_codes

Kato, Haruka, & Takizawa, Atsushi. (2021). Which residential clusters of walkability affect future population from the perspective of real estate prices in the osaka metropolitan area? Sustainability, 13(23), 13413. https://doi.org/10.3390/su132313413

Masui, Toshikatsu. (2021). R to python de manabu tokeigaku nyumon. Ohmsha.

National Statistics Center, Japan. (2016). Chukan apuri. https://github.com/e-stat-api/adaptor.

Nishimura, Shoki. (2017). Providing statistical data by linked open data (LOD): Innovative official statistical data (e-stat) dissemination. Joho Kanri, 59(12), 812–821. https://doi.org/10.1241/johokanri.59.812

Seki, Katsunori. (2023). Social identification and redistribution preference: A survey experiment in japan. Social Science Japan Journal, 26(1), 47–60. https://doi.org/10.1093/ssjj/jyac029

Takahashi, Shūichiro. (2022). E-stat to nakayokusuru hon: Python to ōpun deta de nihon wo bunseki suru! API keiyu de seifu tōkei wo shutoku! katsuyo! Impress R&D.

Wakabayashi, Chihiro, Shinmura, Hiromi, Ando, Miri, Shimada, Masako, & Yanagawa, Hiroshi. (2015). Kōeisei topikksu dai 13 kai seifutōkei no sōgōmadoguchi e-stat: Chiiki shindan he no katsuyō - jissen herusu puromōshon. Gekkan Chiiki Igaku, 29(2), 52. https://doi.org/10.60261/chiikiigaku.29.2_52

芦澤颯太, 松田純一, & 大曽根匡. (2022). E-stat での統計データ検索におけるいくつかの課題抽出とその解決方法の提案. 情報システム学会 全国大会論文集 ISSJ2022, S1–C1. https://doi.org/10.19014/proceedingsissj.18.0_S1-C1

芦澤颯太, 松田純一, & 大曽根匡. (2023). E-stat における検索漏れを抑止する情報システムの開発とその検証. 情報システム学会 全国大会論文集 情報システム学会, 1–6. https://doi.org/10.19014/proceedingsissj.19.0_P001

若林チヒロ, 新村洋未, 安藤実里, 嶋田雅子, & 柳川洋. (2015). 公衆衛生トピックス 第 13 回 政府統計の総合窓口 e-stat-地域診断への活用-実践ヘルスプロモーション. 月刊地域医学, 29(2), 52. https://doi.org/10.60261/chiikiigaku.29.2_52

西村正貴. (2017). Linked open data (LOD) による統計データの提供: 政府統計データ (e-stat) の新しい形. 情報管理, 59(12), 812–821. https://doi.org/10.1241/johokanri.59.812