90％ of Students in Japan Acknowledge Importance of Reading Books; But Downward Trend as They Get Older

The Yomiuri Shimbun

16:19 JST, November 5, 2024

Nine out of 10 students of elementary, junior high and high schools think reading books is important, according to a nationwide survey conducted by the Japan School Library Association.

The survey was conducted in June and received responses from 11,408 students — from fourth graders to seniors at high schools — from 132 elementary, junior high and high schools across the country.

While 90% of elementary school children do read books, there is a downward trend for the percentage of students reading books as they grow older, with the rate for high school students reading books at only about 50%. This situation means it is crucial for schools to continue creating opportunities for students to get in touch with books.

The question whether they think reading books is important received positive responses, including those who said they tend to think so, from 91.7% of respondents going to elementary school, 89.3% of those attending junior high school and 92.9% of high school student respondents. Asked whether they like reading books, 82.3 % of the elementary school students, 73.5% of the junior high school students and 73.0% of the high school students chose either they like reading books or they tend to think so.

The percentage of students who read more than one book — excluding textbooks, school study reference books, manga, magazines and supplements — during the month of May reached 90.7% among the elementary school students, trailed by the junior high school students at 76.3% and the high school students at 51.6%.

“I suspect that students are too busy with their school lives, so they have fewer opportunities to appreciate the joy of reading,” said Prof. Tatsuya Inai of Taisho University. “It’s important for schools to let students have regular access to books by, for example, introducing books in classes other than the Japanese class, too.”