Japanese companies are facing acute labour shortages, ageing demographics and chronic productivity problems, according to the BBC, yet their adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) lags far behind other advanced economies. Data published by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) at the end of last year shows just 8.4% of Japanese workers use AI as part of their job, compared with 50% in the US and 32% in the UK.
The adoption gap in numbers
The BBC report notes that in Singapore, which is said to have the second-highest uptake of AI after the United Arab Emirates and the most in Asia, 56% of workers are said to use AI "multiple times a week". These figures highlight a pattern the BBC described as resembling a slow-moving, traditional Noh play: all the masked characters on stage agree that action is urgent, yet the actors remain frozen in place. The table below summarises the workplace AI usage figures reported by the BBC.
| Country | AI usage at work | Source/Note |
|---|---|---|
| Japan | 8.4% use AI as part of their job | OECD report at end of last year |
| US | 50% | Separate statistics |
| UK | 32% | Separate statistics |
| Singapore | 56% use AI "multiple times a week" | Second-highest after UAE, most in Asia |
Why Japanese firms hesitate
Austin Xu, co-founder of US start-up Kuse AI, which recently set up an office in Japan to sell its AI systems, told the BBC that Japanese companies are "conservative and risk adverse". He described a corporate culture that slows decision-making and leaves little room for error.
"There are organisations where process and consensus culture genuinely slow things down. Where tolerance for AI mistakes is close to zero, especially in anything client facing. Some would rather leave a role unfilled than let a machine handle it."
Xu said the situation in the US is very different, with some businesses already allowing AI agents far more freedom to boost productivity. "In the US, AI colleagues enter as helpers and gradually become part of the workflow. The attitude [of US bosses] is often — let it try, then correct it." He added that Japanese companies need more proof before they trust AI enough to use it.
Parrisa Haghirian, professor of international management at the Kyoto University of Advanced Science, agreed that many Japanese companies are too risk adverse to look at AI. "The challenges of adopting it are the same as adopting any change in Japanese firms. This is why AI use is still quite limited and cautious, especially in the workplace."
Haghirian also noted that because generative AI is still not fully reliable, it is mainly used in Japan for low-risk tasks such as writing, summarising, or information gathering, "but much less for core operations or decision-making and for improving overall processes."
The healthcare lag
The BBC reported that Japan's healthcare sector has been particularly slow to consider AI, with some hospitals yet to fully digitalise patient files. "Paper documents accumulate at a staggering scale," one unnamed hospital employee told the BBC. "It's like the Stone Age."
Government response
Japan's government is aware of the wider problem of low AI adoption and is trying to get more companies to take up the technology. According to the BBC, the AI Promotion Act was passed last year by the country's parliament. The law uses light-touch regulation to encourage businesses to invest more in AI.
For technology procurement leaders and enterprise vendors, the messages from Xu and Haghirian are directly relevant. Xu's observation that Japanese companies need more proof before trusting AI, and Haghirian's description of deployments confined to low-risk functions, indicate that successful adoption in Japan will depend on demonstrating reliability and providing clear evidence of performance before AI systems are entrusted with client-facing or core operational roles.
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