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The story
The OECD has released the results of its 2025 PISA (Programme for International Student Assessment), and Japan ranked first among the 38 OECD member countries in all three categories: reading comprehension, mathematical literacy, and scientific literacy. This is the first time Japan has topped every category at once since the survey began in 2000. However, compared with the previous 2022 survey, average scores in math and science fell slightly but were statistically flat, while reading comprehension dropped to 503 points, which was judged a “significant decline.” On 5ch, commenters questioned why Japan’s economy remains stagnant despite topping the world academically, pointed out the gap between exam-prep skills and real-world application, and the discussion spread into debates over fiscal policy and the effects of the falling birthrate and aging population.
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) announced on the 8th the results of the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), conducted in 2025 (Reiwa 7). Japan ranked first among the 38 OECD member countries in average scores across all three categories: reading comprehension, mathematical literacy, and scientific literacy. This is the first time Japan has placed first in every category since the survey began in 2000. The survey covered 91 countries and regions, including non-OECD members, and among all participants Japan placed 4th, 5th, and 5th respectively in the three categories.
The survey is conducted roughly every three years (every four years starting in 2025) and measures the academic ability of 15-year-old students who have completed compulsory education. This round was administered by computer from June to August 2025, with 760,000 students from 91 countries and regions worldwide taking part. In Japan, 6,500 first-year high school students sat the test, selected according to OECD guidelines to represent a cross-section of society.
Comparing average scores across the three categories with the previous 2022 survey, mathematical literacy fell 11 points to 525, and scientific literacy fell 9 points to 538. Scores dropped, but the changes were considered statistically flat. Reading comprehension, however, fell 13 points to 503, which was judged not to be due to chance but a “significant decline.”
Source: news.yahoo.co.jp / Original article here
What people said
Also teach them some respect for us old geezers while they're at it.
That's proof the Ministry of Education's policies are wrong.
There's just no way bureaucrats who were only ever good at test-taking can design an education system properly.
It's less an education problem than the fact that all they've ever done is raise taxes.
Other countries actually raise and lower taxes like the textbooks say.
So does that mean non-OECD countries are the real developed nations?
Guess we're just a frog in a well then (i.e., a big fish in a small pond, oblivious to the wider world).
Is there no connection between academic ability and the economy?
All study, no ability to apply it.
The falling birthrate and aging population.
Of course the economy shrinks when the number of elderly keeps growing.
Simply put (people have been saying this for a while), it means today's exam system just doesn't match up with the real world anymore.
Most people only study seriously up through college entrance exams, which is probably why this is a declining country.
I mean, they're just hacking how to rack up points,
so it's questionable whether exam prep even deserves to be called "learning."
These days people don't even study seriously for college entrance exams anymore.
If you're smart, you can solve a lot of things yourself, so you don't need to spend money. If you're not smart, you have to get others to do it for you, and that costs a lot.
Countries with tastier food tend to have a higher Engel coefficient (share of income spent on food). America's just chips and cola, so of course it's cheap.
It has nothing to do with individual ability.
Say what you want, but Japan's still the most indebted country in the world.
Can't believe people are still saying this.
Japan holds some of the largest overseas assets in the world, you know.
Then go use it.
Why rely on interest-bearing government bonds instead?
Not all of it belongs to the government, and only yen can actually be spent domestically in Japan anyway.
Basically counting your chickens before they hatch (lit. "counting the pelt of a raccoon dog you haven't caught").
Japan actually does hold enormous overseas assets, so it's not "counting chickens before they hatch."
Japan's current account balance as a share of GDP is the highest in the G7. It's a country that earns big from returns on its overseas assets.
and now suddenly it's first place—pretty sloppy.
Looking at corporate competitiveness, I really can't buy it.
Isn't the point that Japan's problem isn't the ability of individual workers?
It's only being maintained in relative terms—the actual test scores dropped significantly.
It's a system where the elite who graduate college and land at big companies get to coast,
so I guess all that excellence just channels into job security.
Given global trends, academic credentials are going to matter less and less for getting hired at companies.
>1st among the 38 OECD member countries
The opposite, lol.
People overseas admire how fun and varied Japanese student life is.
Didn't you enjoy your school days?
Whatever the case, Japanese wages are still low.
Though Takaichi's saying some weird stuff.
Japanese food just keeps getting tastier lol
Background and Key Points of This Topic
PISA is an OECD-administered international comparative survey targeting 15-year-olds who have completed compulsory education; this round included 760,000 participants from 91 countries and regions, with 6,500 first-year Japanese high schoolers taking part. The “first place in every category” claim refers to Japan’s ranking among the 38 OECD member countries—the original article notes, though it’s easy to overlook, that among all 91 countries and regions (including non-members), Japan placed only 4th in reading and 5th in both math and science. Nor does this result simply mean academic ability improved: average scores in math and science fell from the previous survey but were judged statistically flat, while reading comprehension dropped 13 points and was treated as a “significant decline.” In the thread, opinions split over how to explain the gap between high academic achievement and economic stagnation, highlighting differing views on contributing factors such as the falling birthrate and aging population, fiscal policy, and the mismatch between the exam system and real-world application.
*This article was compiled from excerpts and a summary of the 5ch (Breaking News Plus) thread “OECD International Learning Assessment: Japan Ranks First in All Categories—Reading, Math, and Science Hold Steady Amid Falling Averages.”
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