Generative AI adoption rises among Japanese students and schools

Generative AI adoption is rising significantly among Japanese students and within school administrations. According to a survey by the Sanno University Content Business Research Institute, the continuous use rate of generative AI among university students reached 84.5%, a substantial increase from 57.7% the previous year. While ChatGPT remains the dominant tool with a 90.4% share, usage of Google Gemini has surged to 49.5%, indicating a trend toward using multiple AI services for different purposes.

Students utilize AI for various tasks depending on their academic year; first-year students often use it for conversation and hobbies, while fourth-year students increasingly rely on it for job hunting and report writing. Approximately 83.8% of students reported they would face difficulties if generative AI became unavailable.

In the educational sector, the number of schools reporting zero use of generative AI for administrative tasks has dropped sharply from 76.7% in 2023 to 16.3% in 2025. However, Japanese teachers' usage in classrooms remains below the OECD average of 36.3%, with only 17.4% of Japanese junior high school teachers using AI for instruction. While Japanese educators recognize the potential for efficiency and student support, they express higher levels of concern regarding data security and information accuracy compared to international averages.