Japan Ministry of Education prioritizes paper textbooks to combat digital dependency

The Japanese Ministry of Education has established new guidelines for digital textbooks to be introduced in elementary, junior high, and high schools from fiscal year 2030 onwards. The policy emphasizes a focus on paper-based textbooks to prevent a total detachment from physical reading.

This decision follows data from the 2026 School Reading Survey by the National Association of School Library Organizations, which revealed that the percentage of elementary school students who do not read a single book per month has risen to 13.4 percent, a 3.8 point increase from the previous year. This trend contrasts with middle and high school students, whose reading rates have stabilized or declined.

Experts suggest that the shift toward digital-only materials could have finalized the decline of reading among younger children. The move toward paper aligns with similar trends observed in Europe, where there is a growing movement to return to physical books.