When the Agency for Cultural Affairs surveyed where to obtain information necessary for daily life, more than 7% of respondents answered "smartphones and mobile phones," while those who answered "newspapers" fell below half for the first time, reversing the results.
The Agency for Cultural Affairs surveys changes in the way Japanese is used every year, and from January to March, it surveyed 1,3 people aged 16 and over nationwide and received responses from 6000,3579 people.
When
asked where to get the information they need for daily life, 75% answered TV, 72% used smartphones and mobile phones, 45% used newspapers including electronic versions, and 26%
answered computers.
Although it is not possible to make a simple comparison because the survey method has changed from face-to-face to mail, compared to
the previous survey in 2016, smartphones and other products increased by 30 points, while
TV decreased by 11 points and newspapers decreased by 23 points.
This trend is evident among the younger generation, with more than 10% of teenagers and 20s
using smartphones and other products, while newspapers account for around
9%.
In addition, when
asked which information media they think will have a significant impact on language usage, TV remained flat at 1%, smartphones
and mobile phones doubled to 89%, while
newspapers were on a downward trend to 69%.
Yasuhiro Takeda, chief Japanese language researcher at the Japanese Language Division of the Agency for Cultural Affairs, said, "With the growing influence of smartphones and other devices, the influence of newspapers seems to have declined among the younger generation, and it seems to have reversed."