Yohei Sasakawa Blog (2024)

Left: Responses to the question, gDo you enjoy reading books, including both paper and electronic editions? (n = 1,000)
Right: Responses to the question, gHow many books do you read per month?

It has been a long time now since young Japanese were first said to be@losing interest in reading. It seems to represent a phenomenon in which fewer young people read newspapers and books amid the burgeoning spread of smartphones and tablet terminals. On the other hand, they are in day-to-day contact with an enormous quantity of letters and characters via digital media.

To look into this evolving phenomenon, The Nippon Foundation conducted the 30th installment of the Awareness Survey of 18-Year-Olds on the subject of gReading and Writingh from late September to early October ahead of gNewspaper Weekh (Oct. 15-22) and gBook Weekh (Oct. 27–Nov. 9).

Regarding newspapers, the online national survey, covering 1,000 17- to 19-year-olds, found that roughly two-thirds of the respondents (67.3%) said they do not read papers, including digital editions, whereas less than a third (32.7%) said they read them, representing a sharp 14.8 percentage point decline from a similar poll in September 2018 (47.5%). Nothing yet appears to have halted the decline in newspaper readership.

Concerning books, almost 60% (59.7%) responded they enjoy reading books, with 44.8% reading one or two books a month and 6.8% seven books or more. Their favorite book genres are novels (62.6%), manga (49.9%) and light novels (26.0). One in four (24.9%) said the amount of reading they do has increased because of the impact of the coronavirus. On the other hand, one in three (32.7%) said they do not read books at all.

When queried about writing, young Japanese were divided with 29.4% saying they enjoy writing and 27.7% saying they do not. Of respondents who enjoy reading books, 39.4% enjoy writing, and the number rises to 46.2% among those who read three books or more per month. In particular, they enjoy posting short messages (24.0%), and messages with photos (14.8%) on social media.

As for their reading skills, 38.2% felt that they were gweak,h 33.7% felt they were not and 28.1% said they do not know.

According to the 2018 PISA (Program for International Student Assessment) survey announced by the OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development) last December, 15-year-old Japanese students ranked 15th in reading literacy, posting a large fall from 8th in the previous report three years earlier. When The Nippon Foundation poll asked about Japanfs decline in the OECD survey, which covered 79 countries and regions, almost two in three young Japanese (65.4%) responded that they think it is not desirable while only 14.9% said they see no problem in it.

The findings of the foundationfs latest survey are open to various interpretations. But in my view, there is no other means than reading to acquire a wide-ranging and deep knowledge of history and what is going on in society. Without such knowledge, we cannot marshal our thoughts and express our opinions.

Therefore, I have made it a rule to read newspapers every day and as many books as time allows. I have also earnestly encouraged my colleagues at the foundation to read books voraciously. I think the amount we read has a bearing on our way of life. Looking into the findings of the survey, it is my sincere hope that young people, upon whom the countryfs future depends, will definitely learn from the wisdom of the past by reading books.

Q.: Do you normally read a newspaper? (Note: For 2020, gYesh includes a printed newspaper and/or a digital edition.)

Q.: Do you feel that your reading skills are weak?

Posted by Y.Sasakawa at 10:30 | A FUTURE FOR YOUTH | URL | comment(0)

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