Now it came about in those days that an order went out from Caesar Augustus that there was to be a numbering of all the world.

Luke 2:1

The Caesar is called Akihito, and is probably only very indirectly responsible for the Statistics Law that decrees a population census be conducted every five years to clarify the actual conditions of the population and households in the country.

The procedure must be terribly expensive: Every single household is provided with a questionnaire (and a pencil if necessary), which is not delivered using the postal system but by municipal staff (Census Enumerators, a timeless title that sounds as if it really was Caesar Augustus who sent them) who distribute (and collect) the forms door-to-door.

The 2005 questions are

• For each household member
  • Name, gender, year and month of birth
  • Relationship to the household head (that, by the way, is me, at least on paper)
  • Marital status
  • Nationality
  • Employment status, type of work (or study), place of that activity (in the household, in the same city, in a different city), name and industry of the employer/school, working hours during the last week
• For the household
  • Type of household (owned or rented)
  • Number of household members
  • Size (square metres or tatami mats)
  • Building type and size (number of floors)
  • Floor number in the building