Research & Statistics
Articles reading the actual numbers — national surveys, public statistics and peer-reviewed studies on phone use and what interventions do. Always with source links.
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How Much Time Do People Actually Spend on Their Phones? Japan's Survey Data
Average screen time figures from Japan's government statistics and major private surveys, in one table — plus why the numbers disagree with each other, and the two figures that matter more than the average.
Do 83.6% or 96.9% of Japanese Middle Schoolers Own a Phone? Why Surveys Disagree
Surveys put smartphone ownership among middle schoolers in Japan at 83.6% in one report and 96.9% in another. Here is what each number actually counted, where the gap comes from, and the four things to check before you quote a figure like this.
Japanese High Schoolers Average 6h19m Online on a Weekday — What That Number Actually Counts
Japan's 2024 government survey of 10-to-17-year-olds reports 6 hours 19 minutes of weekday internet use for high schoolers. Here is what that figure sums together, what the phone alone accounts for, and how homes with and without rules compare.
Who Thinks They Overuse Their Phone — 80.4% at 20-Something, 49.3% at 50-Something
Self-reported overuse in Japan varies by more than 30 points across age bands. Two 2024 surveys, one of 606 working adults and one of 10,000 people aged 18–69, show why the headline share depends entirely on who was asked.
Self-Reported Phone Time Is Not Measured Phone Time — How to Discount the Numbers
A survey average of 264.7 minutes a day and the figure in your own Screen Time report are not the same kind of number. Here is what the mean, median and mode of one 606-person survey show, and how to read self-reported and measured figures differently.
92.3% Feel Uneasy Without Their Phone: The Other Number in Japan's Distracted-Phone Survey
In a Japanese survey, 28.9% of people who use their phone while doing something else have no intention of stopping, and 92.3% feel uneasy without a phone. Here is why that figure is not the same as the 88.8% you may have seen.
54.5% Look at Their Phone While Commuting: Reading a 200-Person Survey Properly
In a survey of commuters in Japan, looking at a phone was the top answer at 54.5%, with news at 42.5% and social at 40%. Here is how far a sample of 200 can be pushed, and how to translate it into your own commute.
62.2% of Gen Z Report "Phone Fatigue" — How to Read a 574-Person Survey
In a survey of 574 people aged 15–24 in Japan, 62.2% said they feel "phone fatigue." Here is what they said was causing it, what the 70% already doing something about it chose, and how to read the numbers.
What People Say They Overuse — Reading a 10,000-Person Survey Properly
In a survey of 10,000 adults in Japan, the app most often named as overused was not a social network or a video app. Here is what the ranking actually says, and why the top slot changes by age.