Newspaper subscription rate in Japan falls below 50% for first time

The newspaper subscription rate in Japan fell below 50% for the first time, a survey has found.

According to the fiscal 2026 survey by the Japan Press Research Institute, the proportion of respondents who have monthly subscriptions for newspapers dropped 0.3 percentage point year on year to 49.8%, the first reading below 50% since the survey started in 2008, when the share stood at 88.6%. The survey results were announced Saturday.

The latest survey, the 19th of its kind, was conducted between July 17 and Aug. 16, covering 5,000 people age 18 or over across the country and receiving valid response from 2,676.

The share of respondents who get news from newspapers in a given week also slipped below 50% for the first time, at 49.7%, coming in fourth in a ranking of media sources. Television programs of commercial broadcasters ranked first, at 84.2%, followed by the internet, at 74.4%, and TV programs of public broadcaster NHK, 69.7%. Radio programs ranked fifth, at 27.6%.

The latest survey asked questions about the Cabinet of Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, who took office in October 2025, for the first time.

The approval rate for the Cabinet stood at 62.3%, thanks to strong support from younger generations.

By policy, 50.1% said they support her Cabinet’s diplomacy toward the United States, while 52.6% disapproved of its measures to address inflation.

Although 65.6% said that they are interested in the issue of revision of the Constitution, about 50% said they are not sure whether the supreme law should be amended or not.

The proportion of respondents in favor of constitutional revision came to 31.2%, while that of those against ws 15.3%.

Asked about items deemed appropriate for constitutional revision, with multiple answers allowed, 32.6%, the largest group, said that the existence of the Self-Defense Forces should be added to the Constitution.