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These are extremely serious figures indicating there is a rapidly growing trend of people moving away from reading books. Is it acceptable to spend a lot of time on smartphones every day? It is time for society as a whole to consider this issue.
The Cultural Affairs Agency has released the results of the fiscal 2023 public opinion survey on the Japanese language. Regarding the number of books and e-books people read in a month, which is surveyed once every five years, 63% of respondents, the highest ever, answered that they “do not read.”
The percentage had remained in the 40% range since the question was added in fiscal 2008, but the figure has increased suddenly this time. A record 69% of respondents also said that they “read less” compared to the past. The most common reason given was that information devices are taking up their time.
The agency deduced that the “diversification of services such as smartphone apps and social media” is behind this trend. During the COVID-19 pandemic, books sold well due to people staying at home, and the decreased demand afterward may also have impacted it.
Reading books is not only a way to gain new knowledge, but doing so also has a great impact on character-building by emotionally connecting to the book’s characters and sharing their various emotions, or by deeply thinking about the content and reflecting on the reader’s own situation. An encounter with one book can affect the rest of one’s life.
Even if they do not read books, 75% of respondents said they read social media posts and articles on the internet every day. However, the stimulating short messages on social media can be easily associated with instantaneous feelings of anger and other emotions. It is also said that people remember less from the digital realm than paper.
It is necessary to value spending time in such a manner as sitting down and seriously confronting a book, thinking deeply and making calm decisions.
In schools, teachers say that students’ patience to read long texts is declining. However, such a trend is not limited to children and people in younger generations.
There must be many people who unconsciously reach for their smartphones on the train or in the bedroom. Unless people intentionally put down their smartphones and instead make time to read books, it may be difficult to put a stop to the trend away from reading books.
Smartphones are certainly convenient, but it is questionable to use them in such a way that even time needed for other activities is lost. It is hoped that the survey results will be an opportunity to think broadly about how to deal with smartphones.
The number of bookstores is decreasing nationwide. The number of municipalities that do not have a single bookstore in their communities is about one-quarter of the total. The central government has launched a project to protect bookstores in towns.
France and South Korea are also working on cultural support to vitalize bookstores and increase book sales. Reading is the foundation of knowledge. It is essential to protect the preciousness of print culture.
