How Fast Do Japanese Middle and High School Students Type? MEXT Survey Figures and Where to Start

MEXT’s Information Literacy Survey (January–February 2022, FY2021) gave a keyboard typing task to Grade 5, Grade 8 and Grade 11 students. It is a sample survey of 479 schools drawn from across Japan, with 14,219 students.

Conditions: the passage was 285 characters (a mix of hiragana, katakana, kanji and letters) and the time limit was three minutes. Students were told they could skip characters they did not know how to enter. Keyboards on the students’ devices were used.

The report suggests that the average is above the median because the top students pull it up.

The survey covers only Grades 5, 8 and 11. I could not find official figures for other grades. Other years’ surveys used different tasks, so this article does not use them.

Characters per minute and WPM count different things. Keep three points in mind.

• Characters per minute counts characters of the passage

  The task was to type a passage mixing kanji and kana. So the figure is likely to include the step of converting to kanji, not only the key presses. The report does not say whether students typed in romaji or in kana.

• WPM counts romaji keystrokes

  In Typing Musou, WPM is the number of correct romaji keystrokes divided by 5, divided by the minutes elapsed. It counts key presses, not kana. The same し takes 3 keystrokes as “shi” and 2 as “si.”

• I do not convert between them

  There is no official formula linking the two, and this article does not convert. The definition and benchmark bands for WPM are in Average WPM and Benchmarks. Other sites may define WPM differently, so do not compare the numbers directly.

In the “Interim KPIs for Education DX” (April 22, 2024, Council for Digital Administrative and Fiscal Reform), the government set a target for the average number of characters typed per minute: 40 for elementary schools and 60 for lower-secondary schools by Reiwa 8 (2026; the document writes “R8”).

In the same survey, 1.1% of Grade 8 students typed 60 or more characters a minute, and 2.3% of Grade 5 students typed about 40 or more (see the table above). As of October 18, 2026, I had not confirmed any new survey results against this target.

Here is what I could confirm about classes and entrance exams.

• Middle school

  Information is taught in “Information Technology” (情報の技術), a field of Technology and Home Economics.

• High school

  “Informatics I” (情報Ⅰ) is a compulsory subject for all students (2 credits), newly established from FY2022. It covers the basics of programming, networks and databases. “Informatics II” is an elective.

• Common university entrance test, “Informatics”

  Starting with the exam held in January 2025 (called the “Reiwa 7” test in Japan), “Informatics” was added as a subject. The subject is Informatics I, the exam is 60 minutes, and it is worth 100 points. In that first year, students who studied under the old curriculum could choose “Old Informatics.” The test for January 2027 (scheduled for January 16 and 17) is also listed as Informatics I, 60 minutes, 100 points. For the latest, check the National Center for University Entrance Examinations.

• Everyday study

  MEXT’s guide “Ideas for Building Information Literacy” says keyboard input suits entering long text and revising writing. The survey report also says that fluent character entry matters for expressing one’s ideas in learning on devices.

What I could confirm is the framework of subjects and the exam. I found no official document stating how typing speed affects grades or entrance scores.

One possible order. It is the operator’s suggestion, not an official standard. Even if you already type your own way, measure your current speed first, then decide.

• 1. Measure your speed now

  Run Speed Trial (60 seconds) a few times and look at WPM, accuracy and weak keys on the result screen. A trend over several runs is more reliable than one number. How to read WPM is in Average WPM and Benchmarks.

• 2. Check whether you type from the home position

  The Home Position Dojo has 150 stages in 15 chapters. Chapter 1 (stages 1–10) teaches F, J, D, K, S, L, A, G and H. Clearing a stage opens the next, so you cannot start partway. To decide whether to rework how you type, read Why You Can't Touch-Type and How to Fix It and Home Row Position Diagram.

• 3. Aim at where you stumble

  Chapters 11–15 (the Shihan-dai chapters) cover telling small ゃ ゅ ょ apart, dakuten and handakuten, っ and ん, same-finger and adjacent-key moves and double presses, and reading ahead to the next kana. Accuracy Drill is ten words with no mistakes (one wrong key ends it).

• 4. Build a way to keep going

  In Mock Combat, the stage-1 CPU types at 5 WPM and gets 3 WPM stronger each stage. Friend Battle uses a six-character room code and does not change your rating. Random Battle matches you with players worldwide; when no one is found, a CPU built from real players’ records steps in, and that also counts for rating. For how long and how often to practice, see How Much Daily Typing Practice Do You Need?.

You can play on a PC, or on a tablet with an external physical keyboard. On a smartphone the game screens do not open.

In MEXT’s survey, the main method students used to enter text across the whole survey was a hardware keyboard: 90.3% in elementary, 92.5% in lower secondary and 92.8% in upper secondary. Flick input was 3.3%, 4.0% and 3.7%; the on-screen keyboard was 3.4%, 2.0% and 2.0%. The question asked about the whole survey, not only the typing task.

I could not find a document that measures how much flick speed carries over to keyboard speed. Flick input enters kana directly, while romaji input on a keyboard uses an alphabet layout with ten fingers, so the movements differ. In my view, keyboard practice is needed separately.

Typing Musou cannot be played with an on-screen keyboard. For practicing on a tablet, see Can You Practice Typing on an iPad or Phone?.

• Q. What is the average typing speed of a middle school student?

  In MEXT’s Information Literacy Survey (FY2021), Grade 8 students averaged 23.0 characters per minute (median 21.3). The unit is characters per minute, which is counted differently from WPM.

• Q. What is the average for a high school student?

  In the same survey, Grade 11 students averaged 28.4 characters per minute (median 26.3). Official figures exist only for Grades 5, 8 and 11.

• Q. What is the national target?

  The Interim KPIs for Education DX set a target of 40 characters per minute for elementary and 60 for lower-secondary students by Reiwa 8 (2026; the document writes “R8”). I found no numeric target for high school in the documents I checked.

• Q. How many WPM is a character-per-minute figure?

  There is no official formula, and this article does not convert. Characters per minute counts characters of a kanji-kana passage; WPM is romaji keystrokes divided by 5. See Average WPM and Benchmarks.

• Q. Is there a typing class in high school?

  Informatics I is a compulsory subject (2 credits) covering the basics of programming, networks and databases. I could not confirm any set hours or standard for keyboard speed.

• Q. Is there a free place to practice?

  Typing Musou is free, shows no ads and lets guests use every feature. You can play on a PC, or on a tablet with an external physical keyboard. For comparisons with other services, see Best Free Typing Games 2026.

The official figures and wording in this article were checked against the documents below (checked October 18, 2026). The documents are in Japanese. Page numbers are PDF page numbers.

1. MEXT, Information Literacy Survey Results (March 2023) — Overview (p.3); 2.4 Characteristics of text input (pp.56–57); student questionnaire Q1 (p.59)
2. MEXT, Interim KPIs for Education DX (Digital Administrative and Fiscal Reform Council, 5th meeting, Document 4, April 22, 2024) — KPI list (p.3). The document writes the year as “R8”
3. Special Committee on Curriculum Planning (May 12, 2025), Document 1-1, point paper 6 — Characters typed per minute and targets (p.15); position of junior high and high school; Informatics I is required (2 credits) (p.25)
4. MEXT, Ideas for Building Information Literacy (March 2023; revised March 2024 and March 2025) — p.7 (keyboards suit long text and revising writing)
5. MEXT, High School Course of Study: Informatics materials — Common required subject Informatics I, introduced in FY2022
6. National Center for University Entrance Examinations, Main Changes to the FY2025 Common Test — Informatics added as a tested area (60 minutes, 100 points) (p.3); handling of Old Informatics
7. National Center for University Entrance Examinations, FY2027 Common Test: Subjects and Test Methods — Informatics I, 60 minutes (100 points). Test dates are from the Center’s FY2027 test information page

Official figures for middle and high school typing come from MEXT’s Information Literacy Survey. The average number of characters typed per minute was 23.0 in Grade 8 and 28.4 in Grade 11. The unit is characters per minute and is not converted to WPM. The national target is 60 characters for lower-secondary by Reiwa 8 (2026; the document writes “R8”).

You can start by measuring your current speed. Run Speed Trial a few times, and check how to read WPM in Average WPM and Benchmarks.