Typing Education in Schools Today — MEXT Targets, the Course of Study and Informatics I, as a Sourced Q&A

It describes learning to enter text on a computer. It does not give a number of characters per minute or a starting grade. The main text and the commentary word things differently, so the table separates them (the 2017 elementary school Course of Study and its commentary).

The commentary also says that, to use information tools in each subject, children need at least enough skill that it does not get in the way of learning.

The word 'typing' does not appear in the commentary volumes for General Provisions or Japanese language (I searched the PDF text). There is no speed figure either. The phrase about keyboard text entry is in the commentary, not in the main text.

Junior high teaches information in the technology field of Technology and Home Economics ('information technology'), and high school in the informatics subjects (Informatics I and II), as organised in a MEXT meeting document. For elementary-age guidance, see When Should Kids Start Typing?.

Yes. MEXT's information literacy survey (2021 school year) includes characters entered per minute on a keyboard. It is a sample survey of 479 schools drawn from across Japan, covering grade 5, grade 8 (second year of junior high) and grade 11 (second year of senior high).

The task text was 285 characters (mixed kanji and kana) and the time was three minutes. The unit is characters entered per minute, which differs from WPM. The distribution and how to read it are in When Should Kids Start Typing?.

The survey ran in January–February 2022. MEXT's survey page (checked October 18, 2026) listed no later results and no date for the next survey.

The target is to raise average characters entered per minute to 40 in elementary school and 60 in junior high school by Reiwa 8 (2026). It appears in 'Interim KPIs for Education DX', a document the Minister of Education submitted to the Digital Administrative and Fiscal Reform Council (5th meeting, April 22, 2024).

40 characters is about 2.5 times the grade 5 average in the 2021 survey (15.8). In the same survey, 2.3% of grade 5 students typed about 40 characters a minute or more.

This target is an indicator of how national policy is progressing. The document does not describe it as a standard every child must meet. It carries the note that it will be reviewed continuously in light of progress. No published figure for whether the Reiwa 8 target was met was found.

The official target is expressed in characters per minute. No official grade-by-grade WPM target was found.

Devices spread widely. On keyboards, MEXT itself says that some schools did not buy them.

• One device per student

  A MEXT document says that a device for every student and a high-speed network were put in place intensively in the 2020–2021 school years. MEXT's guidebook says new ways of learning began in earnest in most compulsory-education schools nationwide from April 2021. Learner computers per student rose from 0.2 in March 2019 to 1.1 in March 2024.

• Keyboards

  In its April 17, 2024 'Minimum Specifications for Learner Computers', MEXT lists a hardware keyboard and stylus among the peripherals for all three platforms: Windows, ChromeOS and iPadOS. It notes that some schools did not buy keyboards in the first phase of GIGA School and, citing the commentary on the Course of Study, states that a keyboard is required. A US keyboard may be chosen, and because wireless keyboards can suffer interference, wired ones are preferred.

• Device replacement

  Device replacement is supported by 'Promoting GIGA School' in the FY2023 supplementary budget (¥266.1 billion). Prefectures build a five-year fund; the subsidy base is ¥55,000 per device and the subsidy rate is two-thirds.

• Share by operating system

  No figure from MEXT or the Digital Agency was found. Figures from private surveys are not used in this article.

Preparing to use Typing Musou on a school Chromebook is covered in Preparing Chromebooks and School PCs.

None of the documents I checked mention typing speed. The system works as follows.

• High school Informatics I

  From the 2022 school year, the common required subject Informatics I was introduced in high school informatics, so that every student studies the basics of programming, networks and databases (MEXT). Informatics I is required (2 credits) and Informatics II is an elective.

• Informatics on the Common Test

  According to the National Center for University Entrance Examinations, 'Information' became a tested subject area from the 2025 test (January 2025); the Informatics I exam is 60 minutes and 100 points (for 2025, as a transition measure, students who studied under the old curriculum could choose an 'old Informatics' paper instead). The test for January 2027 (scheduled for January 16 and 17) is also listed as Informatics I, 60 minutes, 100 points. The scope is the Course of Study subject named in the exam, that is, the content of Informatics I.

• Relation to typing

  The two documents I checked (the 2025 briefing materials and the 2027 test-method sheet) contain no mention of keyboard speed or typing. MEXT lists programming, networks and database basics as what Informatics I covers. For how the test is run, check the National Center's latest materials.

This is a draft summary, not a decision. On October 5, 2026, the Curriculum Subcommittee of the Central Council for Education published its 'Draft Summary Toward the Next Course of Study'. The final report and the official notice are still to come.

• Romaji stays in Japanese class; romaji typing goes to the information area

  The draft summary (Japanese language) says romaji will continue to be learned in elementary grade 3 Japanese class as now, while typing by romaji input will be learned mainly in the 'Integrated Studies and information area'. Its list of content to be streamlined also includes 'grade 3 typing moves to information, etc.', as a result of dividing roles with the information area.

• Current and proposed

  The draft's materials describe the current grade 3 Japanese class as teaching basic operations such as entering romaji on a computer in connection with romaji teaching. In the proposal, the information area covers, systematically, basic ways to enter text on a keyboard and the importance of repetition.

• The information area

  The proposal adds an 'information area' to elementary Integrated Studies (the inquiry period), making two areas together with the 'inquiry area'. One example of a learning image reads: typing — learn basic ways to enter text on a keyboard, try web practice sites, and realise that repeating until you are used to it matters.

• Lower grades

  For the lower grades, Japanese class describes 'simple text input suited to the child (handwriting, keyboard, touch-panel input, and so on)'. The flow is to start systematic learning building on those experiences.

Within the draft summary, the elementary period is called 'Integrated Studies of inquiry' in some places and 'Integrated Studies' in others. The 'information area' is marked as a provisional name in some places, and a note in the reference volume says that, in particular, how typing is shared with Japanese class still needs to be examined. Details, including the name, depend on further sorting out. For junior high, the draft proposes a new subject 'information and technology' reorganised from Technology and Home Economics; for high school, it points toward strengthening the informatics subjects (Informatics I and II) further.

The effect on lesson design is covered in Typing Lesson Plan for One Period.

Neither the main text nor the commentary of the Course of Study (General Provisions, Japanese language), nor the draft summary, uses the term touch typing, and none asks for typing without looking at the keys (I searched the PDF text). What is asked for is, in the commentary, 'keyboard text entry at the speed needed to carry out learning smoothly'.

In research, Feit et al. (2016; 30 adults aged 20–55, copying Finnish or English text) report that some self-taught typists reached about the same speed as trained touch typists, with no significant difference between the groups (overall 34–79 WPM). Dhakal et al. (2018; about 170,000 volunteers, mainly teenagers and young adults, English text) report an average of 54.4 WPM for people who said they had typing training and 49.0 WPM for those who had not, a small difference (effect size d = 0.27). Both studies had people copy text in English (Finnish too in the first), so the results are not applied to Japanese text entry or to Japanese elementary students.

So it cannot be said that touch typing is either 'required at school' or 'unnecessary'. Who it suits depends on the situation; see Is Touch Typing Necessary?.

On calligraphy and handwriting (shosha), the draft summary says that even as chances to type increase under the digital learning base, it remains important to recognise characters correctly and write them accurately, so handwriting instruction in elementary and junior high school stays emphasised. In elementary school in particular, careful teaching of handwriting is to be promoted.

It also says that for students who have difficulty writing, teaching must take each student's characteristics into account, including actively offering digital tools or alternative measures.

They are separate. A new official romaji spelling guideline (Cabinet Notice No. 4, 2025) was issued, and the December 1954 Cabinet Notice No. 1 and Cabinet Directive No. 1 were abolished. The Agency for Cultural Affairs' Q&A (Q52) says it has no effect on how text is entered on devices.

The Q&A explains that 'romaji input' borrows the mechanism of romaji spelling for convenience as one way to produce text in mixed kanji and kana. It then says the guideline does not ask for any change in romaji input. See Hepburn vs. Kunrei for Typing.

• Q. Are there official WPM targets by grade?

  No. The official figures are survey results in characters per minute (characters entered) and the national target. The survey report gives no formula for converting characters into WPM. The WPM definition is in Average WPM and Benchmarks.

• Q. When is the next information literacy survey?

  I could not confirm it. MEXT's survey page (checked October 18, 2026) lists results up to the 2021 school year.

• Q. Where can I look up lesson plans or school features?

  Lesson design is in Typing Lesson Plan for One Period, and Typing Musou's school features are on For Teachers. For the latest on the system, check MEXT's site.

• Q. How can I tell whether this article is out of date?

  Each section names its source documents, and a list is at the end. Check MEXT's information literacy survey page and the page for the draft summary toward the next Course of Study for newer documents.

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 (p.56–57)
2. MEXT, Information Literacy Survey page — Confirms that the latest survey listed is the 2021 school year
3. MEXT, Interim KPIs for Education DX (Digital Administrative and Fiscal Reform Council, 5th meeting, Document 4, April 22, 2024) — KPI list (p.3)
4. MEXT, Commentary on the Elementary School Course of Study (2017), General Provisions — Computers and teaching materials, basic computer operations and programming experience (p.91, p.93)
5. MEXT, Commentary on the Elementary School Course of Study (2017), Japanese Language — Grades 3–4 (1) c (p.80); handling of content, Section 3, 2 (1) c (p.167)
6. Central Council for Education, Curriculum Subcommittee, Draft Summary Toward the Next Course of Study (October 5, 2026) — Parts 1–2 (1/4) pp.38, 60, 74, 79, 140, 141; Part 3 (1) (2/4) p.71; Part 3 (2) (3/4) pp.159, 165, 186
7. MEXT, Schedule for Revising the Course of Study (image) (October 8, 2026, Special Committee on Curriculum Planning, reference material 3) — Final report (around winter), revision (end of fiscal year), full-implementation years
8. Special Committee on Curriculum Planning (May 12, 2025), Document 1-1, point paper 6 — Position of junior high and high school; Informatics I is required (2 credits) (p.25)
9. MEXT, Guidebook for Using ICT with Attention to Children's Health (revised March 2022) — Full start of one device per student from April 2021 (p.2)
10. MEXT, Further Promoting GIGA School as National Policy (March 2025) — Trend in ICT environment in schools (p.2)
11. MEXT, Promoting GIGA School: Steady Device Replacement (FY2023 supplementary budget) — Fund, subsidy base and rate (p.5)
12. MEXT, GIGA School: Minimum Specifications for Learner Computers (April 17, 2024) — 2.5 Peripherals (p.8)
13. MEXT, High School Course of Study: Informatics materials — Common required subject Informatics I
14. 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)
15. National Center for University Entrance Examinations, FY2027 Common Test: Subjects and Test Methods — Informatics I, 60 minutes (100 points)
16. Agency for Cultural Affairs, Q&A on the romaji spelling guideline (Cabinet Notice No. 4, 2025) — Q1 (p.6), Q52 (p.22)
17. Feit, Weir and Oulasvirta, 'How We Type', CHI 2016 — Self-taught versus touch typing speed (30 adults)
18. Dhakal, Feit, Kristensson and Oulasvirta, 'Observations on Typing from 136 Million Keystrokes', CHI 2018 — Speed with and without training (about 170,000 people, English text)

Typing education in Japanese schools can be sorted in this order: the Course of Study (acquiring basic operations such as entering text on a computer), the information literacy survey and the national target (characters per minute), GIGA School devices and keyboards, high school Informatics I, and the next Course of Study, which is still at the draft-summary stage.

When you use a number, keep the unit (characters per minute versus WPM) and whether something is decided or still under discussion clear. This article reflects what was checked on October 18, 2026.