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 2016 edition marks the 23rd publication. The English edition is reorganized from the Japanese and has been released for the third 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.

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 Dentsu Media Innovation Lab .* 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 2018 edition marks the 25th 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 Media Innovation Lab 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.

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 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.