Based on the Ministry of Education, Science and Culture's 1986 survey of "Audiovisual Facilities in Schools and Social Education Institutions," this summary of the current status of the diffusion and utilization of audiovisual materials and equipment in Japan pays particular attention to public and private schools. Social education institutions also covered by the study include public halls, libraries, museums, children's centers, youth houses, children's culture centers, and women's educational centers. The survey showed that audiovisual equipment already highly diffused in the schools included television receivers, audiotape recorders, videotape recorders, radios, slide projectors, building-wide public address systems, overhead projectors, and record players. The 16mm projector and television receivers were found to be the items the most commonly available in social education facilities, followed by audiotape recorders and record players. The diffusion of microcomputers had increased the most at the senior high school level, but was still somewhat low in social education facilities. Examination of utilization rates indicated that, generally speaking, tape recorders and overhead projectors were the most commonly used items in the schools, while 16mm projectors were the most commonly used item in public halls. A survey of locally produced materials found that schools most often produced overhead transparencies, although 51% of the high schools reported producing their own computer software. The text is supplemented by 11 figures and 16 tables. (EW)