The above post repeats some widely believed but inaccurate statements about literacy in Japan. The frequently mentioned 9x% literacy rate is a myth. In the prem

The above post repeats some widely believed but inaccurate statements about literacy in Japan. The frequently mentioned 9x% literacy rate is a myth. In the premodern period, it was much less than 1% of the population. In 1948, the rate of full literacy was reported to be 6.2% of the population. In 1955, a literacy census reported that functional illiteracy ran at 60% of the adult population. See Rubinger[1] for the premodern period and Unger[2] for post-WW2. Unger also maintains a bibliography on Japanese literate on his web site.[3] [1] Richard Rubinger. 2007. Popular Literacy in Early Modern Japan. [2] J. Marchall Unger. 1996. Literacy and Script Reform in Occupation Japan. [3] https://u.osu.edu/unger.26/books/literacy-and-script-reform-in-occupation-japan/ https://u.osu.edu/unger.26/books/literacy-and-script-reform-...