Fewer Than Half of Japanese Households Subscribe to Newspapers
Friday, November 13, 2026167 words3 minutes67 reads
A Japanese survey found that 49.8% of respondents had a monthly newspaper subscription at home in summer 2026. That was the first result below half since the survey began in 2008, when the figure was 88.6%. The previous year's figure was 50.1%.
The Japan Press Research Institute received 2,676 responses. Subscription habits differed sharply by age: more than 70% of people aged seventy or older subscribed, compared with about 20% of those in their thirties. Among respondents without subscriptions, 73.7% said television, the internet and other sources provided enough information. Cost and reading habits were other reasons.
However, newspapers ranked second for trust among the media assessed. Their average score was 64.6 out of 100, behind NHK television's 66.1. These are ratings, not percentages of people who trust each medium.
The results distinguish paying for a home subscription from trusting a news source. They describe survey respondents, not a count of every household. A person without a monthly subscription may still read newspaper reporting in other ways.
