This book summarizes a carefully selected set of basic data to give readers an overview of the information media environment in Japan. Commentaries are provided for data in the following eight fields: Print, Broadcasting, Telecommunications, Films and Videos, Pop Culture, Games, Online Services and Advertising, including 70 charts and graphs. This is the digest version in English of “A Research for the Information and Media Society of Japan” edited by the Media Innovation Lab, Dentsu Innovation Institute.* The original Japanese edition, which offers a wide range of data sets and in-depth commentaries for key industries, has served as a very good reference book for all those interested in grasping the landscapes of information and media industries in Japan. Published every year, the latest 2017 edition marks the 24th publication. The English edition is reorganized from the Japanese and has been released for the fourth time as an e-book, with the first release being in 2014. * Dentsu Innovation Institute is the think-tank department of Japan’s largest advertising agency, Dentsu Inc. Media Innovation Lab conducts original and proprietary studies on a variety of fields related to media, publishes key findings and insights, and offers advisory and consulting services to the clients involved in the information and media industries.

Over the past years, the view has emerged that Japanese TV is dominated by an infotainment mode of discourse. The book extends this view, detailing and interpreting the cultural, economic, and emotional dimensions of this communication phenomenon from an ethnographic perspective. It examines the complex ways in which infotainment works in an advanced capitalist society. As such, this is more than a book about Japan; it is a work that fits within media ethnography and cultural studies, and appeals to readers interested in the question of how television, at the heart of the global media stream, successfully turns into a persuasive, intimate, and powerful member of a televisual audience-family through carefully engineered televisual discourses, linguistic/non-linguistic component, audiovisual strategies, and economic and cultural elements. Drawing on ethnographic observations in TV stations in two major cities, Sendai and Tokyo, the book reveals several essential components embedded within infotainment discourse. Thus, this book not only provides a panoramic picture of a core phenomenon in Japanese broadcasting since the 2000s but also discusses how both cultural discourses and economic considerations influence contemporary television broadcasting.

This book offers a comprehensive overview of Japan’s media policies. In light of the attention Japanese media content has attracted in recent years, not only in Japan but also overseas, the book examines the media industry that supports such content. Beginning with the traditional terrestrial broadcasting industry, it also covers cable TV, satellite broadcasting, and over-the-top media services (OTT), as well as media policies for film, animation, games and music. The Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications (MIC), a key media industry regulator in Japan, has been developing broadcasting policies for more than 70 years, and while their traditional policies have not changed in principle, the scope of their business sphere has expanded. For instance, major broadcasting stations in Tokyo, known as key stations, have played an important role in filmmaking with the big four film companies, and have started joint ventures with major OTT, such as Hulu. This book allows readers to gain a comprehensive understanding of the changes in the Japanese media industry in general and the related policies in Japan, while also offering insights into developments in the individual sectors.

This new and fully updated second edition of Critical Issues in Contemporary Japan provides undergraduate and graduate students with an interdisciplinary textbook written by leading specialists on contemporary Japan. Students will gain the analytical insights and information necessary to assess the challenges that confront the Japanese people, policymakers and private and public-sector institutions in Japan today. Featuring a comprehensive analysis of key debates and issues confronting Japan, issues covered include: A rapidly aging society and changing employment system Nuclear and renewable energy policy Gender discrimination Immigration and ethnic minorities Post-3/11 tsunami, earthquake and nuclear meltdown developments Sino-Japanese relations An essential reference work for students of contemporary Japan, it is also an invaluable source for a variety of courses, including comparative politics, anthropology, public policy and international relations.

Japan in the Heisei Era (1989–2019) provides a retrospective and multidisciplinary account of a society in flux. Featuring analyses from leading scholars around the globe, this textbook examines the evolving contexts of Japan throughout the Heisei era and how longstanding verities and values have been called into question. Asking what this holds for Japan’s future relations with the world and within its own communities, chapters delve beneath the layers of a complex and increasingly diverse society, exploring topics including simmering ethnonationalism, economic torpor, political stagnation, and cultural dynamics. Features of this textbook include: Analysis of key social issues ranging from immigration, civil society, press freedom, politics, labour and the economy, to diversity, the marginalisation of women, Shinto, and Aum Shinrikyo Evaluation of the legacy of Emperor Akihito on war memory, the imperial institution, art, regional relations, and constitutional revision Multidisciplinary insights from both the social sciences and humanities Rich illustrations for visual analysis of developments in contemporary Japanese literature, film, art, and pop culture Providing students with dynamic analyses of how contemporary Japanese society continues to transform, this textbook is essential reading for students of Japanese Studies, including Japanese culture, society, history, and politics. The Introduction and Chapter 19 of this book are freely available as a downloadable Open Access PDF at http://www.taylorfrancis.com under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives (CC-BY-NC-ND) 4.0 license.

This book provides an analysis of the various challenges and opportunities facing the Japanese broadcasting industry. It is the first book in English that explores how Japanese broadcasting, especially commercial broadcasting, fulfills its social mission under the threat of the increased popularity of Internet-based media services as it reexamines the role and nature of broadcasting. During a series of disasters and the spread of the new coronavirus in Japan, while varied media connected people and supported socio-economic activities, broadcasting continued to be the most trusted. However, as Internet media attract increasing attention, the trend in broadcast viewership is downward. Commercial broadcasting, in particular, will be strongly affected by that trend and the impact of the shrinking population. Recognizing that such dramatic technological and environmental changes are under way, in addition to the eleven researchers participating in the visiting researcher committee at the Research Institute of the Japan Commercial Broadcasters Association (JBA), four research collaborators and the secretariat (director of the JBA) have contributed to this book. They have taken up issues related to challenges and opportunities for the broadcasting industry based on their respective areas of awareness of the problems, including policies for broadcasting, fake news, disaster responses, viewer trust in television programs, competition with Internet-based services, and the business model for broadcasting.

A star-making factory without rival, the Japanese talent agency Johnny's Jimusho has brought fame to several generations of male stars – singers, actors and performers. Beyond the Male Idol Factory asks what the phenomenon of “Johnny's Idols” reveals about discourses of masculinity and national identity in contemporary Japan. Examining the pervasive presence of these stars across a wide range of Japanese media, the book explores how Johnny's Idols act as role models of ideal masculinity and good citizenship as well as entertainers. Taking a wide-ranging cultural studies approach, the book assesses the social, economic and demographic contexts of these familiar stars in post-industrial and post-Bubble Japanese society.

This book explores how the business transformation taking place in Japan is influenced by the digital revolution. The chapters present approaches and examples from sectors commonly understood to be visible arenas of digital transformation—3D printing and mobility, for instance—as well as some from not-so-obvious sectors, such as retail, services, and fintech. Business today is facing unprecedented change especially due to the adoption of new, digital technologies, with a noticeable transformation of manufacturing and services. The changes have been brought by advanced robotics, the emergence of artificial intelligence, and digital networks that are growing in size and capability as the number of connected devices explodes. In addition, there are advanced manufacturing and collaborative connected platforms, including machine-to-machine communications. Adoption of digital technology has caused process disruptions in both the manufacturing and services sectors and led to new business models and new products. While examining the preparedness of the Japanese economy to embrace these changes, the book explores the impact of digitally influenced changes on some selected sectors from a Japanese perspective. It paints a big picture in explaining how a previously manufacturing-centric, successful economy adopts change to retain and rebuild success in the global environment. Japan as a whole is embracing, yet also avoiding—innovating but also restricting—various forms of digitalization of life and work. The book, with its 12 chapters, is a collaborative effort of individuals contributing diverse points of view as technologists, academics, and managers.