BOJ Time-series Data search allows access to more than 200,000 time-series data produced by the Bank of Japan. The BOJ Time-series Data Search offers the following three major contents: (1) "Key figures at a glance" section that provides graphs with just a single click; (2) "BOJ's main time-series statistics" section which shows predefined tables of our principal time-series; (3) "Time-series data search" section which enables users to search for specific time-series data from all of our series; and (4) "Flat Files Download" section for "Prices,""Flow of Funds,""TANKAN,""Balance of Payments," and "BIS-Related Statistics" data.

To view graphs of the latest data, click icons such as "Interest Rates," "FX," or "Money Stock" under "Key figures at a glance" in the upper part of the BOJ Time-Series Data Search Site Top screen.

You can redraw these graphs by changing the settings on the page.

Predefined tables of BOJ's principal time-series data are displayed. Click a link to a selected category of statistics, and then click a link to a statistic that is displayed under each category. Data download in CSV format is also available. Click the in the table showing the line chart of the series.

The time series data of those tables and line charts are updated several times a day. (By reloading the page, the tables and the line charts already shown will be updated to the latest version.) The time and date of the latest update are indicated just above the table. The date and time are changed when updates take place, regardless of updates or changes to the observations.

There are two options to select time-series data in the BOJ Time-series Data Search: Search by statistics and Search among all time-series data.

(1) Search by statistics

To search by statistics, click the link indicating the name of statistics among 49 categories of statistics on the BOJ Time-series Data Search Site Top screen. This will take you to the search by statistics page.

To start data selection, click one of the three tabs shown below at the top of the page:

(a) Data Selection by list of statistics

A list of statistics is displayed. Choose one item, and then click the Next button. When a list of individual time-series appears, select the time-series data from the list, and then click the Add to search condition button.

(b) Data Selection by name of series

On the tab of Data Selection by name of series, enter keyword(s) in the text box shown above. When entering multiple words, separate them using a space. The matching series are then displayed in the list box below. Select a series from the list, and then click the Add to search condition button.

(c) Data Selection by series code (partial match search)

On the tab of Data Selection by series code (partial match search), enter the entire or a part of the series code in the text box shown above, and then click the Search button. A list of series codes containing a string of characters entered is displayed in the lower list box (partial match search).

Search conditions are as follows:

*	Search for all series codes in this statistics menu.
BOJ*	Search for those that begin with the characters "BOJ".
*BOJ	Search for those that end with the characters "BOJ".
*BOJ*	Search for those that contain the characters "BOJ".

Select the series from the list, and then click the Add to search condition button.

(2) Search among all time-series data

To conduct a search on all time-series data, click the link indicating "By name of series" or "By exact series codes" on the BOJ Time-series Data Search Site Top screen.

(d) By name of series

The page of data selection by name of series offers an advanced version of searching the series. In the text box of the "1. Keyword in name of series" area, enter keywords of the series name. Keywords should be separated by a space. In the list box of the "2. List of statistical categories" area, select a statistical category from the list. The list of categories can be narrowed down by setting a keyword and pressing the Filter button.

Click the Search button and a list of series which match your condition(s) is displayed in the lower list box. Both, or either of the conditions must be set. Choose the series from the list, and then click the Add to search condition button.

(e) By exact series codes

On the page of data selection by exact series codes, enter the exact series codes in the box, and then click the Search button. The matching series are then displayed in the list box. Choose the series from the list, and then click the Add to search condition button.

In the "1. Search and output time-series" area on the search by statistics page, the selected series are displayed in the list box.

In the "2. Output year range" area, users can set the time range of output data. Unless specified, the output time range derives data of the past five years.

The frequency can be changed from the original to a newer one. Set the following two options "New frequency to be converted" and "Conversion method" in the "3. Frequency conversion" area.

"Conversion method" contains the following six options for frequency conversion:

SUMMED	Value converted using the sum of the observations in the period.
AVERAGED	Value converted using the average of the observations in the period.
END	Value converted using the last observation in the period.
HIGH	Value converted using the maximum observation in the period.
LOW	Value converted using the minimum observation in the period.
BEGINNING	Value converted using the first observation in the period.

Click the Search button in order to begin search for the selected time-series data.

Once your request is processed, a new page containing links to the data files appears.

Users shouled be aware that there is a limit to the amount of data that can be retrieved at once. If your request exceeds the maximum number of observations (60,000), an error message is displayed and the output files are not produced. If this happens, reduce the number of selected time-series data or narrow the time range.

To view data, click the link to "Time-series data" which will bring up the time-series data table.

Dates in the tables and the download files are formatted as follows:

Frequency	Date format	Period
Monthly	YYYY/01	January
	YYYY/02	February
	YYYY/03	March
	YYYY/04	April
	YYYY/05	May
	YYYY/06	June
	YYYY/07	July
	YYYY/08	August
	YYYY/09	September
	YYYY/10	October
	YYYY/11	November
	YYYY/12	December
Quarterly	YYYY/03	First Quarter
	YYYY/06	Second Quarter
	YYYY/09	Third Quarter
	YYYY/12	Fourth Quarter
Half Yearly (Calendar Year)	YYYY/06	First half-year
	YYYY/12	Second half-year
Half Yearly (Fiscal Year)	YYYY/09	First half-year
	YYYY+1/03	Second half-year
Daily, Weekly	YYYY/MM/DD ex. 2008/12/22	December 22, 2008

To view associated information (Metadata), click the link to "Information on time-series" which will bring up the Metadata table.

In Metadata, frequency codes are as follows:

Frequency code	Frequency
M	Monthly
Q	Quarterly
CY	Calendar Year
FY	Fiscal Year
CH	Half Year (Calendar Year base)
FH	Half Year (Fiscal Year base)
D	Daily
W0	Weekly (Sunday base)
W1	Weekly (Monday base)
W2	Weekly (Tuesday base)
W3	Weekly (Wednesday base)
W4	Weekly (Thursday base)
W5	Weekly (Friday base)
W6	Weekly (Saturday base)

To download data, set the following two options, and then click the Download button:

Download header type

Simple header	Headers in the download file contain only "Series code" and "Name of time-series."
Header	Headers in the download file contain almost all Metadata : "Series code," "Name of time-series," "Unit," "Statistical category," "start of time-series," "End of time-series," "Frequency," etc.
No header	Without any header information.

File type

CSV	Data columns in the download file are separated by commas. The CSV is a text-based format which can be read by all conventional spreadsheet programs such as the Excel.
TAB	Data columns in the download file are separated by tabs.

Once the download file is ready, the download page appears. Single-click the right mouse button at the link to download the file, and a menu will appear. From this menu, select a command that will save the file (e.g. "Save target as...") and then specify the directory to which you want to save the file (e.g. A:\, C:\Temp\).

It is also possible to save selected series codes in a text-based format file. By clicking the "Save selected series codes" button, the download page will open.

(Notification for Excel users)
Users should be aware that the Excel often formats some types of data automatically and thus the format shown in Excel may not be precisely what is in the data file. To remedy this, select the appropriate cell formats that conform to the data type (e.g., Date or Numeric value).

On the Flat Files Download page, predefined flat files of "Prices,""Flow of Funds,""TANKAN,""Balance of Payments," and "BIS-Related Statistics" can be downloaded.

To download the flat files, single-click the right mouse button at the link, and a menu will appear. From this menu, select a command that will save the file (e.g. "Save target as...") and then specify the directory to which you want to save the file (e.g. A:\, C:\Temp\).

Contact us at the address below:

• 　　　　　Inquiries on Statistics:　　　prdmail@boj.or.jp (Launches your email software)
• 　　　　　Inquiries on how to use the time-series data search:　　post.rsd17@boj.or.jp (Launches your email software)

Inquiries should be addressed to post.rsd17@boj.or.jp, with words "Inquiries on BOJ Time-series Data Search" in the subject field.
Make sure to use " [" "]" (brackets).