In a study driven by stunning images of Japanese advertisements and the artworks they quote from, Ory Bartal offers a first-of-its-kind interpretation of the "postmodern" genre of advertising in Japan, which both shaped and reflected the new consumer-driven culture that arose during the bubble era of the 1980s and 1990s. Through a fascinating tale of art directors and their works and influences, Bartal shows how this postmodern visual language, like postmodernism in other streams, is distinguished by its mŽlange of styles, blurring of boundaries between art and design, and reliance on visual and textual quotations from sources past and present, domestic and foreign. Although this advertising culture partakes of global trends, Bartal draws attention to the varied local artistic sensibilities, structures of thought, and underlying practices, challenging the often-simplistic characterization of "Japaneseness" as being rooted in a Zen tradition of aesthetic indirectness and ambiguity. Combining multilingual scholarship with a wealth of information gleaned through years of personal interviews with the principals involved, this is a truly original contribution to the discussion of Japanese art and advertising as well as an insightful reading of more general issues in the study of visual culture and media.

This is a formal account of the structure and organization of a large Japanese advertising agency. Based on a year's fieldwork in a Tokyo-based agency, the book presents a case study of an advertising campaign to outline the complex relations that exist both between different division (Account, Planning, Marketing, Creative) within an advertising agency, and between the agency and the client, on the one hand, and the agency and media on the other.

Population aging is a powerful megatrend affecting many countries around the world. This demographic shift has vast effects on societies, economies and businesses, and thus also for the advertising industry. Advertising in the Aging Society presents insights from a large-scale content analysis as well as questionnaire surveys among advertising practitioners and consumers in Japan. As the most aged society in the world, Japan lends itself as particularly suitable to study the implications of population aging. This book shows that older people, and especially older women, are highly underrepresented in advertising and are generally portrayed in stereotypical, albeit not necessarily unfavorable ways. This is despite the fact that advertising practitioners have a generally positive view towards using older models, even though only for an older target audience. Finally the book explore how both younger and older consumers perceive the representation of older people in advertising as stereotypical and partly negative, and are willing to boycott companies portraying older people negatively.

Postmodernism and Japan is a coherent yet diverse study of the dynamics of postmodernism, as described by Lyotard, Baudrillard, Deleuze, and Guatarri, from the often startling perspective of a society bent on transforming itself into the image of Western “enlightenment” wealth and power. This work provides a unique view of a society in transition and confronting, like its models in the West, the problems induced by the introduction of new forms of knowledge, modes of production, and social relationships.

Previously, studies of advertising in Japan have been conducted using content analysis, with little attention to attitudes about advertising and advertising strategy. This study examines perceptions of changes in Japanese advertising among advertising professionals in Japan, probing advertising issues that have not previously been scientifically explored. A review of the existing literature about advertising in Japan and interviews with professionals at advertising agencies in Japan yielded four primary dimensions that appear to be affecting advertising in Japan. These dimensions are, the "soft sell" or comparatively more emotional appeal of Japanese advertisements, which contrasts with more attribute-oriented or "hard sell" Western advertising; advertising strategy issues, which focus primarily on the intent of advertising in Japan; economic issues, which address changes in the Japanese distribution system and other economic issues that directly affect advertising; and cultural factors that affect advertising in Japan, which include differences in customs, mores, and language. Q-methodology was used to isolate different types of advertising professionals in Japan. Thirty-four advertising executives were asked to sort forty statements regarding advertising strategy in Japan and the United States. Each of the statements involved one of the four factors that appear to be shaping advertising in Japan. Three distinct types of advertising professionals emerged. The Establishment Type, comprised exclusively of Japanese advertising executives, contends that the advertising climate in Japan is similar to that in the West. He sees minor changes in advertising in Japan, but not dramatic changes precipitated by difficult economic times. The Emigrant Type, comprised exclusively of advertising professionals from the United States, Great Britain and Australia, sees advertising as an extension of the competitive marketplace but believes that cultural factors preclude major change in the advertising climate in Japan. The Change Agent Type, which includes both Japanese and Western professionals, foresees dramatic change in advertising in Japan, precipitated by difficult economic times and fierce competition. Conclusions and implications of these findings are discussed

This book tells the story of critical avant-garde design in Japan, which emerged during the 1960s and continues to inspire designers today. The practice communicates a form of visual and material protest drawing on the ideologies and critical theories of the 1960s and 1970s, notably feminism, body politics, the politics of identity, and ecological, anti-consumerist and anti-institutional critiques, as well as the concept of otherness. It also presents an encounter between two seemingly contradictory concepts: luxury and the avant-garde. The book challenges the definition of design as the production of unnecessary decorative and conceptual objects, and the characterisation of Japanese design in particular as beautiful, sublime or a product of ‘Japanese culture’. In doing so it reveals the ways in which material and visual culture serve to voice protest and formulate a social critique.