Today is census day.

Today is census day.

For Japan's first census (1920), bells and sirens sounded at midnight on the appointed day. Where ever you where then, that's what you were to put on your census form. Apparently a lot of nighclubs and brothels closed early that day!

Today, we only have to mark our home address as of midnight.

There was a lot of marketing to promote the original census. Epigrams set to shamisen music were used to promote the new census.

• "Although I do not speak out of jealousy, I wonder where you were at midnight."
• "I let you start for home not because I turned sour on you, but because the census was on my mind."
• "You are quite self-willed and I am so self-centered, but the national census is just self-evident."

Ah, those earnest, playful Taisho-era Japanese ad men. Their campaign worked. 56 million people were counted that year. 75 years later the population of Japan stood at 126 million.

The current census is expected to show the trend of an aging population. And more foreigners than ever...