Nifty survey reveals reading habits of Japanese students

A survey conducted by Nifty via its ‘Nifty Kids’ platform reveals the reading habits of 1,646 elementary and junior high school students. The report shows that 89.4% of respondents stated they ‘love’ or ‘like’ reading, while only 3.5% reported disliking it.

Regarding book selection, 84.2% of students choose books based on the cover or title. A notable generational shift was observed in how students find recommendations: 33.5% of junior high students rely on SNS or YouTube, a higher percentage than those who follow recommendations from friends or family (26.4%). In contrast, only 18.7% of elementary students use social media or YouTube for book selection.

Fiction remains the most popular genre for both age groups. Elementary students most frequently read 16 or more books per month, whereas the most common frequency for junior high students is 2 to 3 books per month. For those who do not enjoy reading, the primary reason cited was that ‘games, YouTube, and other things are more fun’ (70.9%).