Police raid Japanese city hall over claims officials padded Census numbers
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Police in Japan searched the city hall of Toyama on Saturday, October 3, after the national government accused city officials of padding the city's population in the 2025 Census by at least 2,000 people.
Japan's internal affairs ministry filed a criminal complaint on Tuesday, September 29, against unidentified city staff for suspected violations of the country's statistics law, The Japan Times reported, citing the Jiji news agency. About 10 investigators from the Toyama Prefectural Police arrived around 10 a.m. and went to the fifth-floor division that handles census work.
The ministry's final count put Toyama's population at 399,197, down from a preliminary figure of 402,133 released in May. The ministry said multiple city staff members were suspected of involvement. According to the BBC, preliminary investigations suggest officials added the residents by changing the sizes of households that census takers had first marked as empty.
Money was at stake. The preliminary figure was used to calculate the city's local allocation tax grants from the national government for fiscal 2026, and a city estimate says Toyama may have received about 60 million yen more than it was entitled to, roughly $378,000, according to the BBC.
Toyama Mayor Hirohisa Fujii denied that the inflation was meant to keep the city's population above 400,000. "There were no instructions from senior officials," he said at a news conference. "I will take due responsibility at the appropriate time."
Akihiro Tamura, director of the census division at Japan's Statistics Bureau, said when the allegations surfaced in September, "It is extremely regrettable that such inappropriate handling occurred in the country's most basic and important statistical survey," the BBC reported. Under Japanese law, falsifying statistics can bring a fine or up to six months in jail.
A shrinking country
The case comes as Japan's population declines. Its 2025 census counted nearly 123 million people, including foreign residents, as of October 1, 2025, down 2.5 percent, or about 3.17 million, from 2020, according to the BBC. The population fell in every prefecture except Tokyo, and about three in 10 residents are 65 or older. Japan takes a census every five years.
The United States moved the other way over a similar stretch. The U.S. Census Bureau counted 331.4 million people in the 2020 census, and its estimates put the population at about 341.8 million in mid-2025, an increase of about 3.1 percent. National figures are on the CensusEasy United States profile.
In the US, local governments that believe the bureau got their numbers wrong have a formal route. Under the bureau's Population Estimates Challenge Program, a city or county can contest its annual estimate within 90 days of release by submitting a letter and supporting evidence. A challenge can change an estimate only if the bureau finds an error, such as incorrect input data. Census accuracy and how the 2030 count could be improved are covered in how the census could be improved.
Sources
Details of the investigation, the population figures, the funding estimate, and Mayor Fujii's comments are from Jiji Press via The Japan Times, "Police search Toyama City Hall over census inflation claims" (October 3, 2026). The description of how households were altered, the dollar conversion, the Statistics Bureau quote, the penalty, and Japan's national census figures are from the BBC. US population figures are from the U.S. Census Bureau's 2020 census and Vintage 2025 population estimates. The challenge process is described on the bureau's Population Estimates Challenge Program page.
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What happened in Toyama, Japan?
Japan's internal affairs ministry accused Toyama city staff of inflating the city's 2025 census count by at least 2,000 people, and police searched City Hall on October 3, 2026. The final count was 399,197, down from a preliminary 402,133.
Why would a city inflate its census count?
Population drives funding. Toyama's preliminary census figure was used to calculate its fiscal 2026 local allocation tax grants, and a city estimate says it may have received about 60 million yen more than it was entitled to. The mayor denied any instruction to inflate it.
Is Japan's population shrinking?
Yes. Japan's 2025 census counted nearly 123 million people, down 2.5 percent, or about 3.17 million, from 2020, according to the BBC. The population fell in every prefecture except Tokyo, and about three in 10 residents are 65 or older.
