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Korea and Japan spend almost the same amount of time online. But in Japan, online and social games account for 18.2 minutes of the day, about 10% of all internet time. According to Japan’s Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications survey “Information and Communications Media Usage Time and Information Behavior, FY2025” (published June 2026), weekday internet use averages 183.9 minutes, of which online and social games take 18.2 minutes. Those 18.2 minutes are not everyone playing a little. Only 15.2% of people played at all on a given weekday, and the ones who did played for 119.8 minutes.
The totals are nearly identical
Korea averages about 185 minutes a day. That is the 21.6 hours per week reported in the Ministry of Science and ICT’s “2025 Survey on Internet Usage” (published March 2026), divided by seven. Japan averages 183.9 minutes on weekdays and 192.9 minutes on holidays.
The two surveys use different methods, so the figures should not be compared to the decimal. What is clear is that both markets sit at roughly three hours a day.
How Japan’s three hours break down
Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications (2026), all ages:
| Activity | Weekday | Holiday |
|---|---|---|
| Video sharing sites | 54.5 min | 73.1 min |
| Social media | 36.2 min | 45.4 min |
| Online and social games | 18.2 min | 23.5 min |
| All internet use | 183.9 min | 192.9 min |
Who actually spends those 18.2 minutes
The same survey reports the share of people who did each activity on the day surveyed.
| Weekday | Holiday | |
|---|---|---|
| Played on that day | 15.2% | 14.5% |
| Average time among those who played | 119.8 min | 162.1 min |
| Average across everyone | 18.2 min | 23.5 min |
0.152 x 119.8 = 18.2. The numbers reconcile.
Read it this way. On a given weekday in Japan, one person in seven played a game, and that person played for two hours. The other six did not play at all.
Holidays follow the same shape. Time rises to 23.5 minutes, but the share who played falls from 15.2% to 14.5%. What grows on a weekend is not the number of players. It is how long one player stays.
Three things to change in a Japanese campaign
- Do not judge the campaign on reach. 85% of the population did not play on that day. The wider you spread, the more you waste.
- Set step deadlines in play-days, not calendar days. “Within 7 days of install” leaves only a few real chances at Japanese play frequency.
- Use holiday inventory for longer conditions. Sessions are longer, not more numerous.
Sources
Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, Institute for Information and Communications Policy, “Survey on Information and Communications Media Usage Time and Information Behavior, FY2025”. Fieldwork 1 to 7 December 2025, 1,800 respondents aged 13 to 79, diary method, published 26 June 2026. Ministry of Science and ICT, “2025 Survey on Internet Usage”, 50,750 respondents, published 31 March 2026.
Japanese figures are averages across ages 13 to 79, a wider base than the target age range of most game campaigns.
What this means for your Japan plan
Rocket Ads by aix Inc. connects advertisers directly to Japanese local media for CPE campaigns. Putting the three points above into campaign conditions is what Rocket Ads does daily. Get in touch at rocket-a.com.
