TOKYO: More than 10% of elementary school students were found to have read no books in a month, according to a yearly survey on students’ reading habits, marking the first time in 25 years that the figure surpassed 10%.
The survey was conducted in June by the Japan School Library Association. A total of 10,061 students in grades from the fourth-year in elementary school through the third-year in high school responded.
Previously, the year 2000 was designated as the National Year of Reading for Children following a Diet resolution, which prompted schools to encourage children to read books. The percentage of elementary school students who read no books in a month had remained below 10% since 2002.
Yet, the figure reached 13.4% in the 2026 survey, having climbed for five straight years and up 3.8 percentage points from the previous year. The percentage stood at 24%, down 0.2 points, among junior high school students, and 49.7%, down 6.0 points, among senior high school students.
The survey also showed that nearly 30% of elementary school children did not read any manga books in a month. This year’s survey was the first time in which the association asked students about their manga reading habits.
Those who said they did not read manga, excluding those in magazines, in a month accounted for 28.2% among elementary school students, 40.2% among junior high school students and 50.8% among senior high school students.
An expert panel of the Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Ministry said in a March report that if there were manga in school libraries, it could prompt students to visit libraries.
“The percentages of those who do not read manga books were higher than expected,” said an official of the school library association.
“Children used to read books or manga when they had time. Now, they may be killing time on their smartphones instead.”
“Loss of interest in reading books or literature is a serious problem,” said Prof. Takenori Noguchi of Aoyama Gakuin University, who is the association’s representative director.
“It’s important to create more opportunities for people to enjoy reading, such as adults and children discussing their thoughts on the same books or manga, or to read books aloud to middle and high school students.” - The Japan News/ANN
