# What Is Jiatama? Japan's "Natural Smarts" vs IQ and Education

> Jiatama (地頭) is a Japanese word for natural smarts. Having good jiatama means, in the Digital Daijisen dictionary's definition, a high level of "a person's innate intelligence, not something given by education at a university or elsewhere," and it refers not to how much you know but to things like logical thinking and communication skills. The closest concept in psychology is fluid intelligence (Gf), the ability to deal with problems you have never seen, but jiatama is broader because it also covers conversational skill, so the two are not the same. A meta-analysis puts the correlation between intelligence and school grades at ρ=.54, and a recent re-estimate puts the correlation with job performance at .31, so jiatama alone does not decide outcomes. There is no solid evidence that training can substantially raise fluid intelligence, while education is estimated to raise IQ by about 1 to 5 points per year.

- URL: https://brainrank.jp/en/blog/jiatama
- Published: 2026-09-25
- Publisher: BrainRank Editorial Team (https://brainrank.jp)
- Tags: Cognitive abilities, Psychology

Jiatama (地頭) is a Japanese word for natural smarts. Saying someone has good jiatama means the thinking ability they have on their own is high, as opposed to the amount of knowledge they were taught at school or university. The dictionary defines it as "a person's innate intelligence, not something given by education at a university or elsewhere," and names logical thinking and communication skills as what it covers. This article uses research data to lay out how it relates to what psychology calls fluid intelligence, how it differs from IQ and academic credentials, how far it connects to grades and job performance, and whether it can be trained.

## What jiatama means: the dictionary definition and how it differs from being smart

[Digital Daijisen (via Kotobank)](https://kotobank.jp/word/%E5%9C%B0%E9%A0%AD-74346) defines jiatama as "a person's innate intelligence, not something given by education at a university or elsewhere," and explains that it "generally refers not to how much one knows but to logical thinking, communication skills, and the like." Written with the same characters but read jito, the word is an unrelated term for a steward post under the Kamakura shogunate.

Where atama ga ii ("smart") is used to include good grades and broad knowledge, jiatama ga ii ("has good jiatama") focuses on how you handle problems you were never taught. Put another way, the first is about what you know and the second is about how you deal with what you don't know, which makes the two easier to tell apart.

One of the things that spread the word in Japanese business was Isao Hosoya's [Jiatama-ryoku wo Kitaeru](https://str.toyokeizai.net/books/9784492555989/) ("Training Your Jiatama," Toyo Keizai, 2007). The book defines jiatama as the ability to think starting from the conclusion, starting from the whole, and in simple terms, and calls these hypothesis thinking, framework thinking, and abstraction thinking. On [his own website](https://www.isao-hosoya.com/%E5%87%BA%E7%89%88-%E8%91%97%E4%BD%9C/), the author organizes it into six elements by adding intellectual curiosity, logical thinking, and intuition.

## In psychology it is closest to fluid intelligence, but not the same

Psychology has no term for jiatama, but the closest concept is fluid intelligence (Gf) in the theory of Cattell and Horn. The American Psychological Association's [Dictionary of Psychology](https://dictionary.apa.org/cattell-horn-theory-of-intelligence) describes fluid intelligence as the mental processes used in handling relatively novel tasks, which are also used in acquiring crystallized intelligence, and crystallized intelligence (Gc) as the sum of a person's knowledge, measured by tests of vocabulary and general information. Dealing with problems you were not taught corresponds to Gf, and the knowledge you were taught and acquired corresponds to Gc, which closely mirrors the relationship between jiatama and education or knowledge.

Still, the two are not the same. The communication skills in the dictionary definition are not part of fluid intelligence, and Hosoya's hypothesis thinking is a problem-solving pattern built on knowledge and experience. The accurate framing is that jiatama is an everyday word centered on reasoning about new problems, extended to the thinking patterns and interpersonal skills that put that reasoning to use, and no psychological test measures jiatama itself. The difference between Gf and Gc and how each changes with age are covered in [fluid vs. crystallized intelligence](https://brainrank.jp/en/blog/fluid-crystallized-intelligence), and the general intelligence that sits above both in [what is the g factor?](https://brainrank.jp/en/blog/g-factor).

## Turning the traits of people with good jiatama into measurable abilities

Most of the behaviors commonly listed as signs of good jiatama map onto domains of cognitive ability. Mapping them makes it clear which parts a test can check and which it cannot.

- Finds the rule even in a problem they have never seen: fluid reasoning. [Matrix reasoning](https://brainrank.jp/en/blog/matrix-tips), which asks you to find the rule in a sequence of figures, and [pattern recognition problems](https://brainrank.jp/en/problems/pattern) are typical
- Organizes the key points while listening: working memory, the ability to hold information briefly while manipulating it, covered in [how to train working memory](https://brainrank.jp/en/blog/working-memory-training)
- Grasps what things have in common and sums it up in a phrase: abstraction, close to [classification problems](https://brainrank.jp/en/problems/classification), which ask you to extract a shared property from several items
- Can move shapes and layouts around in their head: spatial awareness, measured by [spatial reasoning problems](https://brainrank.jp/en/problems/spatial)
- Decides and works quickly: processing speed, the ability to make simple judgments quickly and accurately, covered in [how to train processing speed](https://brainrank.jp/en/blog/processing-speed-training)
- Explains clearly and picks up on what others mean: verbal and communication skills, which figure-based IQ tests cannot measure

As the last item shows, some of the behavior people call jiatama lies outside IQ tests. A high test score does not guarantee that someone is good at explaining things, and the reverse can also be true.

## How much do grades and job performance depend on jiatama?

The link to grades is fairly strong. A study that followed more than 70,000 children in England from a cognitive ability test at age 11 to national exams (GCSEs) at 16 found a latent correlation of 0.81 between general intelligence and educational achievement ([Deary and colleagues, 2007](https://www.research.ed.ac.uk/en/publications/intelligence-and-educational-achievement/)). A meta-analysis of 240 samples and 105,185 people found a correlation of ρ=.54 between intelligence and school grades ([Roth and colleagues, 2015](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.intell.2015.09.002)). A correlation of .54 means intelligence explains roughly 30% of the variation in grades, with the rest determined by study time, motivation, environment, and other factors.

The link to job performance has turned out to be smaller than once thought. The correlation between cognitive ability and job performance was long put at .51, but a reanalysis that revisited the correction methods brought it down to .31 ([Sackett and colleagues, 2022](https://doi.org/10.1037/apl0000994); [Sackett and colleagues, 2023](https://doi.org/10.1017/iop.2023.24)). A correlation of .31 corresponds to about 10% of the variation in performance, and in the same reanalysis structured interviews came out as the most predictive selection method. The reasonable reading is that jiatama does help, but most of what happens at work comes down to experience, knowledge, personality, and environment. More detail is in [IQ and career](https://brainrank.jp/en/blog/iq-and-career) and [IQ and grades](https://brainrank.jp/en/blog/iq-and-grades).

## What Japanese employers mean by jiatama: logical thinking and problem-solving

In hiring, jiatama does not mean IQ alone either. In a survey published in 2022 by Keidanren (the Japan Business Federation), to which 381 companies responded, choosing up to three items each, the top abilities companies particularly expect from university graduates were "problem setting and solving" at 80.1%, "logical thinking" at 72.1%, and "creativity" at 42.6%, and the top qualities were "initiative" at 84.0% and "teamwork, leadership, and cooperativeness" at 76.9% ([Keidanren, "Survey results on expectations for recruitment and university reform"](https://www.keidanren.or.jp/policy/2022/004_kekka.pdf)).

In its earlier new graduate recruitment surveys, the factor companies weighted most in selection was "communication skills" for 16 years in a row (82.4% in fiscal 2018), with "initiative" second (64.3%) ([Keidanren, "Results of the FY2018 survey on new graduate recruitment"](https://www.keidanren.or.jp/policy/2018/110.pdf)). The people Japanese companies rate as having good jiatama in interviews are those who can reason through an unfamiliar question and get their thinking across to others, which lines up closely with the dictionary definition (logical thinking and communication skills).

## Can jiatama be trained? What is hard to raise and what you can build

No method has yet been shown to substantially raise fluid intelligence itself through short-term training. A meta-analysis of 87 studies and 145 comparisons of working memory training concluded that although people get better at the trained tasks, there was no convincing evidence of reliable far transfer to other reasoning tasks when compared with appropriate control groups ([Melby-Lervåg and colleagues, 2016](https://doi.org/10.1177/1745691616635612)). A review spanning brain training, chess, music, and other kinds of training likewise found minimal effects on general cognitive ability that is not tied to a specific domain ([Sala and Gobet, 2019](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tics.2018.10.004)).

Education, on the other hand, does appear to help. A meta-analysis pooling 142 effect sizes and data from more than 600,000 people estimated that each additional year of education raises IQ by about 1 to 5 points ([Ritchie and Tucker-Drob, 2018](https://doi.org/10.1177/0956797618774253)). What is easiest to build in practice are thinking patterns, such as forming and testing hypotheses, breaking the whole into parts, and extracting what concrete examples have in common, along with knowledge of your field. As patterns and knowledge accumulate, the same reasoning ability shows up as "good jiatama" behavior in more situations. Specific methods are in [how to raise your IQ](https://brainrank.jp/en/blog/how-to-raise-iq), [how to train logical thinking](https://brainrank.jp/en/blog/logical-thinking-training), and [metacognition](https://brainrank.jp/en/blog/metacognition).

## How to test your own jiatama (reasoning ability)

The part of jiatama a test can check is the reasoning ability to solve problems you were not taught. [BrainRank's free IQ test](https://brainrank.jp/en/start) scores 20 questions (about 10 minutes) across four domains, spatial reasoning, pattern recognition, logical reasoning, and classification, using item response theory (IRT), and returns an estimated IQ on a mean-100, SD-15 scale along with your strengths and weaknesses by domain. Every question is figure-based and uses no words or knowledge, so it gives a guide to reasoning ability that is less affected by how much you know. Taking it is free with no signup; viewing the results, including the estimated IQ, is a one-time payment of ¥300 (tax included), with no subscription or auto-renewal (the result can be reopened for 24 hours after it is first shown, and saved as an image or PDF during that window). Results are estimates for entertainment and self-understanding, not a medical or diagnostic assessment.

## Frequently asked questions

### Is having good jiatama the same as having a high IQ?

They overlap but are not the same. IQ tests, especially items that ask you to find the rule in a set of figures, largely measure fluid intelligence, which overlaps with the core of jiatama: the ability to reason through problems you were never taught. On the other hand, IQ tests do not directly measure the communication skills the dictionary includes in jiatama, or problem-solving patterns such as the hypothesis thinking described in Isao Hosoya's book on jiatama. Some people have a high IQ yet struggle to explain things, and some are the other way around.

### Can you still train your jiatama as an adult?

So far there is no solid evidence that short-term training can substantially raise reasoning ability itself. A meta-analysis of 87 studies of working memory training found no reliable improvement in transfer to other reasoning tasks. Education, however, is estimated to raise IQ by about 1 to 5 points for each additional year, and thinking patterns such as forming and testing hypotheses or breaking a whole into parts, along with knowledge of a field, can be acquired at any age.

### What are Japanese companies looking for when they judge jiatama in interviews?

Keidanren's surveys have no item called jiatama, but in its 2022 survey the top abilities companies particularly expect from university graduates were "problem setting and solving" at 80.1%, "logical thinking" at 72.1%, and "creativity" at 42.6%. In its new graduate recruitment surveys through fiscal 2018, the factor weighted most in selection was "communication skills" for 16 years in a row. In other words, interviewers are looking at whether you can reason through an unfamiliar question and get your thinking across to the other person.

## Sources

- [Digital Daijisen (via Kotobank)](https://kotobank.jp/word/%E5%9C%B0%E9%A0%AD-74346)
- [Jiatama-ryoku wo Kitaeru](https://str.toyokeizai.net/books/9784492555989/)
- [his own website](https://www.isao-hosoya.com/%E5%87%BA%E7%89%88-%E8%91%97%E4%BD%9C/)
- [Dictionary of Psychology](https://dictionary.apa.org/cattell-horn-theory-of-intelligence)
- [Deary and colleagues, 2007](https://www.research.ed.ac.uk/en/publications/intelligence-and-educational-achievement/)
- [Roth and colleagues, 2015](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.intell.2015.09.002)
- [Sackett and colleagues, 2022](https://doi.org/10.1037/apl0000994)
- [Sackett and colleagues, 2023](https://doi.org/10.1017/iop.2023.24)
- [Keidanren, "Survey results on expectations for recruitment and university reform"](https://www.keidanren.or.jp/policy/2022/004_kekka.pdf)
- [Keidanren, "Results of the FY2018 survey on new graduate recruitment"](https://www.keidanren.or.jp/policy/2018/110.pdf)
- [Melby-Lervåg and colleagues, 2016](https://doi.org/10.1177/1745691616635612)
- [Sala and Gobet, 2019](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tics.2018.10.004)
- [Ritchie and Tucker-Drob, 2018](https://doi.org/10.1177/0956797618774253)

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