Children dream about many things, including their future jobs. Diverse institutions publish their research on children's dream jobs to shows what young people are aspiring to and how it reflects social changes. The typical dream jobs for children have evolved over generations, showing how culture, society, and technology have evolved. A recent survey conducted by NIFTY Corporation among elementary school students between February and March of this year reveals what children in Japan are dreaming of doing when they become adults.

Manga and anime are huge industries in Japan. While there are titles written for adults or that are popular with all ages, their main audience is kids and teens. This is reflected in animator and illustrator repeating its first place selection from last year's survey.

Doctors hold a position of respect and prestige nearly everywhere in the world, and Japan is no exception. Medical Doctor is the second most popular dream job for Japanese youths.

The third most popular dream job according to the survey is teacher, which ranks in high place in rankings conducted by many other institutions. Though many children say they dream of becoming teachers, the number of people taking the teacher employment examination has been getting lower in Japan for years.

These three landed at the same place. Over the past decade, YouTubers have started to be seen as not just passionate creators, but also as celebrities and entrepreneurs in their own right. As many kids spend their time online watching YouTube videos, this has become a new dream career.

Voice actor has naturally been a cool job in Japan since several generations now have grown up watching anime. Though voice actors used to be theater or TV/film actors, it has now become a specialized career. There are professional schools to be voice actors in Japan.

Utai-te singers are the singers who mainly publish their works online via video sharing and social media platforms such as YouTube. They often cover songs by other musicians.