Meet Japan’s first literacy ambassador

Aditi Paudel, a high school senior in Tokyo who spent part of her childhood in Nepal, was recently named Japan's first literacy ambassador. | Elizabeth Beattie

Aug 30, 2026

Aditi Paudel’s earliest memory of reading is of her grandfather handing her a newspaper filled with intricate Devanagari script when she was still a preschooler.

“The letters are pretty difficult to read,” said Paudel, who was born in Japan but spent the first half of her childhood in Nepal. To the surprise of those around her, however, she was able to make sense of the text. The feeling that she was an impressive reader from a young age became a formative memory for the now 17-year-old, who is a high school senior in Tokyo and was recently appointed Japan’s first literacy ambassador.

Around 900 young people between the ages of 16 to 25 from 101 countries are participating in the program run by the World Literacy Foundation, a global nonprofit headquartered in Australia. While the program is 12 years old, this is the first time an ambassador from Japan has been appointed, according to Andrew Kay, CEO and founder of the World Literacy Foundation.

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