NIKKEI Economic Electronic Databank System (NEEDS)

This database is said to be the largest available on the Japanese economy. It offers 24,000 series on "national accounts, production, business enterprises, public finance, trade, balance of payments, labor, consumption, etc." Most of these series date from 1955. Their monetary data section has over 24,000 series, and again most series date from 1955. Finally, they offer "Statistical Data on Production, Shipment, and Inventory" on 1,500 industrial products. This data is collected by Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI), and most series date from 1960.

This firm, Nikkei QUICK Information Technology Co. (NQI), is the sole distributor of this data, which is organized by Nihon Keizai Shimbun, Inc. (NIKKEI). The price is not disclosed, and it is unknown if they offer academic discounts, but they do offer a 10-day free trial.

http://www.nikkeieu.com/needs/