Survey Says Japan Seen as Most Creative Country, By Everyone Except Japan [Infographic]

Adobe has released an interesting survey which takes a look at creativity across the globe. Its State of Create global benchmark study surveyed [1] people in the US, the UK, Germany, France, and Japan and came up with a number of interesting findings on how people in some of the world’s largest economies view creativity. Among the most remarkable findings in this report is how the respondents around the world view creativity in Japan, and how this contrasts with how respondents in Japan see themselves.

Among the total respondents, Japan was deemed the most creative country among those listed (by 36 percent) and Tokyo the world’s most creative city (by 30 percent of respondents). The report noted however that Japan does not seem to see itself in the same way the rest of the world does, with most Japanese seeing the US and New York as the most creative country and city respectively. The report further states:

Outside of Japan, national pride in each country is evident, with residents of the United Kingdom, Germany and France ranking their own countries and cities next in line after Japan.

I also found it interesting that 78 percent of Japanese respondents said that “being creative is still reserved for the arts community” – a stark contrast with the other nations surveyed who responded in the range of 21 to 38 percent. Personally, I find it pretty easy to discover creativity in Japan by walking down almost any street here, where almost every single yard or garden is impeccably groomed with colorful flowers and beautiful stone walls.

But from a technology point-of-view, there’s still no shortage of great ideas coming from Japan, I think. For more information, check out the full report, or browse Adobe’s accompanying infographic below.