July 24, 2026 Publication of "2026 Report on the Current State of Information and Communications" (2026 White Paper on Information and Communications in Japan)

　The Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications (MIC) published the "2026 Report on the Current State of Information and Communications" (2026 White Paper on Information and Communications in Japan) today.

Note: The published materials are available in Japanese only.

　The MIC publishes this report (white paper) annually to enhance public understanding of the current status of ICT field and trends in information and communications policy in Japan. This is the 54th edition since the first publication in 1973¹.
　This year’s white paper features a special section titled “The Multifaceted Impacts of Advances in AI: Toward the Realization of a Digital Society Where Humans and AI Collaborate Healthily.” It provides an overview of the current status of AI utilization among individuals and businesses in Japan, examples of cutting-edge corporate initiatives, and recent research trends regarding the rapid integration of AI into society in recent years, and offers a vision for a digital society where humans and AI collaborate healthily.
　The specific methods and schedule for publication are as follows:

< Method and schedule of publication >

1．Posting on the MIC website

　The full text of the 2026 White Paper on Information and Communications in Japan will be available in PDF format on the MIC's website from July 24th 2026. The website URL is shown below. The report will also be available in HTML and EPUB formats by the end of August 2026.

https://www.soumu.go.jp/johotsusintokei/whitepaper/index.html

2．Book sales

　Books containing the full text of the 2026 White Paper in Japanese will also be available for purchase at major bookstores, the Government Publications Service Center, and official gazette sales outlets from early August 2026.

¹ Until 2000, the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications published it as a report titled "Report on the Current State of Telecommunications."

3．Publication of e-book edition

　The full text of the 2026 White Paper will also be available as a free e-book starting in August 2026. It can be accessed through major e-book platforms such as Kinoppy (Kinokuniya), Kobo (Rakuten), and Kindle (Amazon).

4．Preparation and publication of an English version of the 2026 White Paper

　We will prepare and publish the English edition of the 2026 White Paper at a later date.

5. "White Paper on Information and Communications for Kids"

　We will update the "White Paper on Information and Communications for Kids," a website for elementary school students, to reflect the contents of the 2026 White Paper, and publish it at a later date.

https://www.soumu.go.jp/hakusho-kids/

< Making the "White Paper on Information and Communications" available as open data >

MIC is promoting the open-data availability of the White Paper on Information and Communications. The 2026 White Paper on Information and Communications in Japan (HTML version, including Excel data , PDF version, and CSV data ), may be freely used by anyone for secondary purposes, including reproduction, modification, distribution, public transmission, and other forms of reuse, except for the figures and tables included in the "List of Figures and Tables Excluded from Free Secondary Use (Related to the 2026 White Paper on Information and Communications in Japan)" available at the URL below, and any text indicating third-party sources.

https://www.soumu.go.jp/johotsusintokei/whitepaper/ja/r08/pdf/r08riyou.pdf

² We will make the HTML version (including Excel data) available on the website by the end of August.
³ We will make CSV data available on the website by the end of August.