According to the latest statistics, more than 60 percent of the Japanese population aged 16 and above read fewer than one book per month. Moreover, a vast majority do not read magazines or newspapers and rely solely on free Internet sources such as YouTube and X for news and information.
Inada argues that the advent of the smartphone in the late aughts and the attendant ascendance of social media has led to a gradual change in the way people acquire knowledge and information. Nowadays, it’s no longer common for young people to visit websites affiliated with traditional news media such as newspapers or television stations to get the latest news; instead, they find out what’s going on in the world through Line News and X’s Trending section—two of Japan’s most popular social media outlets.
Young people rarely have newspaper subscriptions and, rather than proactively searching for specific news topics, they passively consume whatever headlines appear on their phones as determined by the algorithm of their preferred social media. Although many of these pop-up headlines come with a web link to the relevant article, most of them can’t even be bothered to click to read it, leaving them only superficially aware of what’s happening around the world—and they repeat the same process day after day.
As a result of consuming only bite-sized pieces of text on their smartphones, most young and middle-aged people have lost their ability or patience to understand lengthy articles in Japanese, causing them to stay away from books in favor of videos and podcasts. These days, if they want to get a good understanding of a certain subject, they won’t pick up a book to read; instead, they will find relevant YouTube videos and watch them at double speed.
Moreover, not reading books has led to a substantial diminution of their vocabulary, leaving them incapable of understanding words that are only slightly advanced or profound. When you come across in a book too many words you don’t know, you will no doubt be frustrated and eventually give up reading it altogether, creating a vicious circle in which people will gradually lose their only effective means to access knowledge and wisdom.
Inada also argues that one of the reasons Japanese people read less than before is that Japan has become considerably poorer compared to its economic heyday in the mid 1990s, when its GDP per capita was roughly on a par with that of the U.S. Fast-forward to 2026, the Americans are two and a half times as rich as the Japanese. People used to be able to buy books without worrying about their price tags, but it’s no longer the case now—books have become luxury items that can only be afforded by rich people.
The phenomena described in this book might sound too dystopian to some people, but I am convinced that they are indeed taking place in Japan. During my recent visit to my hometown, I was dismayed to find that one of my favorite neighborhood bookstores had substantially shrunk in size due to poor business. I also noticed that whenever I got on a commuter train or sat down at a Starbucks for coffee, more often than not I was the only person reading a book—most of the others were either looking at their smartphones or tapping away on their laptops.
All this makes me sad, but at the same time I feel fortunate to be still fond of reading in this age of smartphones and artificial intelligence, and be able to afford most books. This is a privilege I should never take for granted. There is nothing much I can do to reverse this deplorable trend in Japan, but the least I can do is help Japan’s struggling publishing industry and bookstores by purchasing books and enjoying them to my heart’s content whenever I travel there.
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