According to a recent study by a major Japanese cellphone service provider, the number of upper elementary school students in the Kanto region who own their own smartphones has surpassed 50% for the first time, highlighting a trend toward younger smartphone ownership.

Average Age of First Smartphone: Now Just 10.4 Years

According to a report from the Mainichi, the study was conducted in late 2024 by the NTT Docomo Inc.’s Mobile Society Research Institute, and 1,300 student-parent respondents revealed that 52% of 4th to 6th graders now have their own smartphones. That’s a sharp increase from 17% in 2018, and even a 10% rise from just last year. On average, Japanese children are now getting their first smartphone at 10.4 years old, down from 11.3 years in 2019. Nearly one in four kids receive their first device by the age of twelve, before entering junior high school.

Why Are Japanese Kids Getting Smartphones So Young?

In the early elementary years, parents cite emergency contact and location tracking as the main reasons for providing a phone. By the upper grades, children’s own requests – often driven by peers who already have smartphones – play a bigger role. Japanese parents have been turning to X (Twitter) for advice, asking “When is the right time to let my child have a smartphone?” and “How should we manage phone usage?” Even as other countries explore bans or restrictions on smartphone use among kids to combat digital dependency, it looks as if that ship has sailed in Japan, and parents are simply looking for ways to keep their phone-toting kids safe and healthy.

Heavy Use Linked to Declining Academic Performance

One of the biggest concerns? The impact on learning. A joint study by the Sendai City Board of Education and Tohoku University found a direct link between smartphone usage and falling grades, regardless of how much students study. Their data, gathered from nearly 24,000 middle schoolers, showed that students who used smartphones for over an hour per day consistently scored lower, even if they studied for two hours or more. In fact, students who didn’t use smartphones at all but studied for less than 30 minutes still outperformed heavy phone users.

Recommendations: Limit Use to One Hour a Day

In response, Japan’s educational authorities have been recommending a limit on smartphone use for kids: keep it to under one hour daily. Authorities have also been urging parents to have real conversations with their children about the purpose of their smartphone and the risks involved, as well as setting clear household rules for phone usage. As smartphone ownership becomes increasingly common among Japanese children, finding a healthy balance between digital access and academic success has never been more crucial!

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