How to read and compare the data

Sources, dates and units

Every data release has its own reference period and acquisition time. A source's reference date describes the data; acquisition time describes when the product obtained it. Different measures may cover different dates, definitions and geographic units. The pages keep those distinctions visible.

Numbers retain the source's unit and precision contract. Display formatting does not change stored values or the underlying metric identity.

Hospital counts and reported beds

Hospital counts include records in the named hospital facility release. They are grouped by the municipality, prefecture or secondary medical area where the facility is located. A location-based count does not show residents' access to care or where patients live.

Reported beds refers to the total bed field in the hospital facility survey used by the product. It must not be read as licensed, staffed, available or occupied beds. Bed function, permitted beds and reported totals are separate concepts and are not substituted for one another.

Provider and resident geography

Provider-location geography groups a facility or provider by its location. Resident-population geography groups people by their place of residence. Occurrence-location geography groups events by where they happened. These bases are not interchangeable. A ratio that combines a provider-location numerator with a resident-population denominator is descriptive; it does not measure access, capacity, demand or adequacy.

Municipalities and designated-city entries

Municipality identities and medical-area membership follow the product's verified official code mappings. Where a designated-city parent entry is a directory hub rather than a supported statistical municipality, the product links to its child wards and does not manufacture a parent-level statistical roll-up.

Secondary medical areas

A secondary medical area is an official healthcare-planning geography. Its constituent municipalities follow the official mapping used for the relevant release. Hospital locations within the area do not establish that residents use those hospitals or that the boundary is a patient catchment.

Missing and unknown values

A confirmed zero is distinct from not observed, outside current coverage, not applicable, unknown, suppressed, not published or an unmatched geography. The product does not fill missing values with zero or estimate values from neighboring places. If a status cannot be resolved from a source contract, it is not guessed.

Population and projections

Census and population-register measures describe residents for the source's reference date. A share uses the denominator stated by its source. Future population figures are source projections: they are not observed future outcomes, forecasts of patient demand, or estimates of future bed need.

Children, families and childcare capacity

This measure reports the source-published capacity for childcare centers, certified childcare centers and community-based childcare as of 1 April 2025. It does not show vacancies or places currently available. Figures published only for a designated city are not allocated to its wards. Where no ward-level figure is verified, no figure is shown; this does not mean zero.

Diagnosis Procedure Combination (DPC) and facility standards

DPC is the Diagnosis Procedure Combination diagnosis-group classification used in these records. DPC/PDPS refers to the separate Diagnosis Procedure Combination / Per-Diem Payment System. DPC participating and preparatory hospital categories remain distinct. A DPC record does not by itself establish care quality or treatment outcomes.

A facility-standard row reflects an accepted notification recorded in the relevant public list. It is not accreditation, a quality standard, proof of actual billing, proof that a service was delivered, or confirmation of current availability. An absent matched row is not proof that no notification exists.

Comparisons

Side-by-side values retain their own source period, unit, coverage and geography. Numeric differences are descriptive and do not establish causation. The product does not label a municipality or hospital as best, worst, recommended, sufficient or underserved.

Where a published distribution or percentile is available, its comparison population, reference period and method are stated on the relevant page. It is distribution context, not an overall score.