It is difficult, however, to count the actual number of stateless persons from these statistics. The nationality survey in the national census is conducted by a method whereby the respondent first selects Japanese or other nationality on a questionnaire. If the respondent selects “other”, the respondent is asked to write down the country of nationality. 51 This method may make a judgment difficult as to whether a particular answer, depending on how it is written, intends to mean stateless.52 Moreover, since the national census is conducted based on self-reporting, it is not certain whether a person who claims to be “stateless” fulfills the definition under international law. Additionally, the category “stateless and not reported” is combined to form one category in the national census statistics, and no statistics sheet seems to make a distinction between them.53 Therefore, it is impossible to know whether the 174,821 people shown in the census are stateless, people whose nationality is undetermined, or people whose answer on the questionnaire is simply not provided or clear. (3) Specified Report of Vital Statistics The Specified Report of Vital Statistics is also relevant to the identification of statelessness. It reports the number of infants born in Japan by their parents’ nationality. The report does not directly indicate the nationality of these infants; however, they could allow us to identify infants with the possibility of being stateless by examining the nationality law of their parents’ country of nationality. However, these statistics have only nine categories for parents’ country of nationality besides Japan: “ROK/DPRK”, “China”, “Philippines”, “Thailand”, “United States of America”, “United Kingdom”, “Brazil”, “Peru”, and “Other Countries”.54 The questionnaire 51 The questionnaire for the National Census conducted in 2010 can be found below. Statistics Bureau, Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, “Kokusei Chousa Chousahyou [National Census Questionnaire]”, at http://www.stat.go.jp/data/kokusei/2010/pdf/chouhyou.pdf. 52 The National Census is conducted in languages other than Japanese; however, it is not clear if persons in need of questionnaires in other languages are provided with appropriate questionnaires, and therefore it is unclear if persons who consider themselves as stateless are in a position to indicate themselves as “Stateless”. 53 Inquiry to the Statistics Bureau, Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications (26 November 2015). 54 4,230 mothers and 5,776 fathers of Other Countries have been confirmed. Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, “Heisei 27 Nendo Jinkou Doutai Toukei Tokushu Houkoku ‘Nihonniokeru Jinkou Doutai Gaikokujinwofukumu Jinkou Doutai Toukei’ no Gaikyou [Year 2014 Summary of Vital Statistics Specified Report ‘Vital Statistics in Japan – Vital Statistics including Foreign Nationals’]” (January 2015), at http://www.mhlw.go.jp/toukei/saikin/hw/jinkou/tokusyu/gaikoku14/dl/gaikyo.pdf. 33