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COVER STORY • 1 Development of Mass in & Its Background By IWASAKI Ieo

Dawning of Cross-Media Age tion of multi-function next-generation reached about 90% around 1900. In mobile phones, large-sized liquid-crystal those days, it was extremely high com- The advancement of such home TV sets geared to digitized broad- pared with the rest of the world. The as , , and casting and personal . advancement of Japan’s cul- contributed in no small measure to ture was backed by the presence of the the economic development of Japan in High Literacy, Public highly literate general public eager to the second half of the 20th century. TV Back Japan’s Modernization read. This is an important factor that was introduced in the needs to be taken into account when 1950s and took root in Japanese society Japan’s modernization and successful reviewing the development of Japan’s during the so-called “high growth peri- advance into an industrial society since mass media. od” of the Japanese economy in the the Restoration of 140 years ago 1960s. It was TV that did the most to have owed a great deal to the print Basis of Media Development Built evolve the country’s sophisticated mass media, such as newspapers and maga- in Edo Era consumption society against that eco- zines, and the publishing , which nomic background. had already taken root in the Edo era During the Bunka and periods In Japanese homes’ living rooms, TV (1603-1867), against the background of (the early 19th century) of the Edo era, took its place like a family member, pro- the high literacy ratio of the Japanese the publishing culture came to flourish. vided various , on life public. Since the , In the Kanei period (the mid-17th cen- and the economy, and , Japan successfully achieved moderniza- tury) of the early Edo era, Japan’s pub- and aroused a strong desire for con- tion ahead of other Asian countries. lishing culture began with the wood- sumption through advertisements. TV Behind the success was the fact that the print of Chinese classics and broadcasting is scheduled to be com- ’s literacy ratio was Buddhist scriptures by bookstores in pletely digitized in 2011, triggering a already very high toward the end of the Kyoto. For the sake of the reading pub- drastic change in the country’s media Edo era, even compared with Western lic, Ihara Saikaku’s Ukiyozoshi entertain- environment. This, coupled with the powers. ing stories (novels of the floating world) rapid spread of a high-speed com- In the Bunka period (1804-1818) of were published during the munication network, will cause Japan to the Edo era, there were as many as period in the latter half of the 17th cen- enter a cross-media age – the fusion of 1,200 to 1,300 large and small terakoya tury, and aohon/akahon (illustrated blue- the media, based on a high-speed digital private schools in the Edo region, teach- and red-covered storybooks), which cor- network. In regard to the platform for ing reading, and arithmetic to respond to today’s paperbacks, in the the cross-media, the Japanese market is the general public. The Japanese peo- middle of the 18th century, while the currently marked by the rapid propaga- ple’s literacy ratio is estimated to have lending of these came to be estab- lished as a full-blown . Thus, Photos: Both possessed by Japan Museum the general public in the Edo era was already able to read thanks to the high literacy ratio based on the terakoya edu- cation. During the Edo era in the second half of the 17th century, woodprint newspa- pers called kawara-ban (tile-block-print editions) were published, transmitting various information to the general pub- lic. They were similar to today’s popu- lar tabloids, keeping the public informed about diverse things, such as natural dis- asters like earthquakes and volcanic eruptions, rumors on world matters, kabuki plays and sumo wrestling. Kawara-ban, although woodprint papers, included colored prints, and this Right: “Kawara-ban” tabloid reporting on an earthquake and tsunami in the late Edo era. Left: “Nishikie-shimbun,” popular in the early Meiji era, carries news of a child tugging a bale of rice with incredible strength. JAPAN SPOTLIGHT • January / February 2008 5 COVER STORY • 1

tradition was handed over to nishikie- Meiji era, and provided news to provin- found that they spend three hours and shimbun (multi-colored woodblock print cial newspapers in exchange for the use 27 minutes on weekdays, four hours and newspapers) after the Meiji Restoration. of advertisement space. Later, Japan’s three minutes on Saturdays, and four Furthermore, the Edo era also witnessed major advertisement agencies such as hours and 14 minutes on Sundays the development of media in and Hakuhodo derived from the watching TV. such forms as hikifuda (leaflets), ebira advertisement sections of news agencies. The complete shift of terrestrial tele- (posters), trademarks and signboards. casting to digital broadcasting, slated for Mass Media in Today’s Japan 2011, will be a crucial test for terrestrial Mass Media Prior to World War II telecasters, which have so far proved TV’s Role their advertising effects mainly through During the Meiji era (1868-1912), After World War II, Japan continued surveys on household ratings. Japan introduced under to build an advanced mass consumption The progress of information the banner of civilization and enlighten- society, which reached its peak in the has brought about a remarkable advance ment, and went on to develop into a middle of the 1980s. In postwar in the techniques of measuring and fore- modern industrial nation. Early in that Japanese society, four mass media – casting the effects of advertisements. era, multi-colored woodprint nishikie- newspapers, magazines, television and This will enable terrestrial telecasting to shimbun reported on diverse world mat- radio – brought their characteristics into drastically alter its measurement of ters. Japan’s first “newspaper” was pub- full play to arouse an earnest desire for advertising effects and present even lished by Joseph Hiko, who had been consumption among the general public more elaborate results of audience sur- rescued after a shipwreck and taken to and thereby contributing to establishing veys, making it possible to realize a more the United States. He published Japan’s an affluent society. Above all, TV effective combination of mass media for first monthly newspaper in 1864. broadcasting played a remarkable role. advertising. Moreover, the complete The first daily newspaper Yokohama Since the debut of TV, Japanese people digitization of telecasting will enable Shimbun (later renamed Yokohama have viewed the world’s news and expe- new services, such as interactive broad- ) was founded in rienced the world’s joys and griefs casts, fusion with other media and Yokohama on December 8, 1870 (the through the medium of TV while pur- -on-demand services. As a result, third year of the Meiji era). suing a life of affluence. As of 2006, TV TV viewers will be able to watch diverse Nichinichi Shimbun and Yubin Hochi advertisements accounted for as much as programs of their choice whenever they Shimbun were issued in 1872, followed about ¥2 trillion or one-third of Japan’s please. by in 1874 and Asahi total advertisement expenses of ¥6 tril- Shimbun in 1879. At first, newspapers lion. Future of Newspapers focused on presenting editorial com- Even today, a great majority of Newspapers still continue to be a ments. However, newsgathering also Japanese people, while at home, make it powerful component of the mass media. became a major task for newspapers as a a habit to leave their TV sets on to use Nonetheless, the digitization of the mass result of their wartime coverage of the them as a sort of time signal. A survey media has brought on a decline in the Sino-Japanese War from 1894 and the on how they spend their hours in their circulation of newspapers. According to Russo-Japanese War from 1904. News daily life, conducted by Japan a survey by the Japan Newspaper agencies also came into being in the late Broadcasting Corp. (NHK) in 2005, Publishers and Editors Association in 2002, the total circulation of national Photos: Both possessed by Japan Newspaper Museum and provincial newspapers plus tabloids was about 50 million copies. However, the survey also confirmed a circulation decline for an unprecedented third straight year. Up to around the 1960s, advertising expenditures via newspapers exceeded those of TV. Since the 1970s, however, the ranking has been reversed. Newspapers’ share of total advertising spending has shrunk from a decade ago when the began to spread. Japan’s major national newspapers continue to be giant with- out parallel in the world, with Asahi Shimbun and Yomiuri Shimbun boasting a circulation of about 10 million and Right: Tokyo Nichinichi Shimbun launched two years after the foundation of the first daily newspaper (Miyazawa Tomoko collection) Left: Japan’s first daily newspaper Yokohama 6 JAPAN SPOTLIGHT • January / February 2008 Shimbun. COVER STORY • 1

eight million, respectively. Newspaper younger population, a prolonged reces- were concerns about the possible “digital publishers play a central role in almost sion in the 1990s and youngsters’ divide” (economic gap between Internet all media groups in Japan. increasing indifference to . Still users and others). Nowadays, however, Since the debut of the Internet in the another factor is young people’s chang- the Internet has already taken firm root mid-1990s, both the circulation and ing form of contact with the media in the daily lives of Japanese people. advertising revenues of newspapers have stemming from the propagation of the The collection of information via the continued to decrease under the impact Internet and mobile phones. Internet has become a universal practice of the Internet. Nonetheless, Japanese while the use of e-mail, Net shopping newspapers have been slow to go online Radio Seeking Out Niches in Mass and Net auctions is gradually spreading compared with their US counterparts. Media among the public at large. Over the past 10 years, the of Today, the Internet is coming into have been Full-scale began in wide use in Japan as well irrespective of improved and expanded. It may be said, 1925, and its diffusion ratio already differences in generation and gender. however, that they are still immature as reached 50% or so before World War II The ratio of Internet use via mobile both news sites and advertising sites as radio started to establish itself as a phones, spreading fast mainly among compared with those of the leading US medium for news transmission. Until youngsters, has surpassed 50% since dailies New York Times and Washington the spread of TV in the 1960s, radio 2004. Of late, social networking service Post, which have led the way in newspa- served as the only medium of (SNS) sites such as mixi (claiming a pers’ shift to online services. Be that as transmitting news and entertainment to membership of 10 million) are also it may, as the number of people reading the general public. The popular radio spreading, causing “virtual communi- more than one newspaper via the drama Kimi-no-Na-wa (Your Name Is?) ties” to grow in Japan as well, like the Internet increases in parallel with the served to hearten Japanese people in “Second Life” originating in the United progress of paperless mass media, their trying days after the war. With the States. Thus, Japanese society is also Japan’s giant newspapers, which rely on advent of TV, however, radio handed experiencing the birth of interactive home delivery through distribution over the role to TV and sought to fill in which recipients of agents, appear to be in for an inevitable niches in the mass media market information become the of change. through the broadcast of sports events information at the same time. A survey and musical programs. by a US researcher has found that the Magazines Helped Form Japanese Radio, although surviving as part of number of using Japanese exceed- mass media niches, remains at a low ed that of English-language blogs in ebb. It was outstripped by the Internet 2006. This has disproved the generally When it comes to mass media’s con- in terms of advertising expenditures in accepted view that the Japanese are not tribution to forming the lifestyle of 2004, and the gap between the two has good at transmitting information. Japanese society after the war, magazines continued to widen ever since. From The Internet is also definitely gaining need to be noted as an influential factor. the second half of the 1980s, many ground in the world of advertising During the 1980s, magazines enjoyed a small FM stations for communities media. Internet advertisements were heyday with the circulation of some came into being, and a considerable worth approximately ¥1.6 billion 10 magazines exceeding one million each. number of them remain in service today. years ago in 1997. But their annual Today, however, they are already past From now on, they are expected to sur- total outstripped that of radio in 2004, the peak. vive as part of the Internet service to rising to ¥181.4 billion, and further circulation plunged during engage in (IP) broad- surged to ¥363.0 billion in 2006, com- the decade from 1995 to 2006. Among casting. How best to survive the current ing close to magazine advertising. From men’s weeklies, for instance, Shukan trend toward digitization poses a big 2011 when terrestrial TV broadcasting Post saw its circulation plummet from problem for radio relying only on voice will be entirely digitized, the fusion of 860,000 to 400,000, while Shukan transmission. the Internet with other media is expect- Gendai suffered a fall from 720,000 to ed to make further headway, causing a 440,000. A steep downtrend was also Internet for Mass Media new cross-media age to come into full witnessed by magazines dedicated to bloom in Japan’s mass media world as women’s lifestyles – down to 340,000 According to the 2007 White Paper well. from 940,000 for Nonno and down to on , the diffusion 360,000 from 740,000 for with. Some ratio of the Internet among Japanese people attribute the sharp downswing to people was 68.5% as of 2006, and an Iwasaki Ieo is a and media the impact of the Internet, which began estimated 87.54 million people were consultant. He worked at Dentsu Inc. for 26 to spread around 1996. But this is not using the Internet (up 2.6% from the years before becoming independent. He the only cause. Among numerous other previous year). When the Internet teaches comparative media and modern negative factors are a decline in the began to spread among the public, there advertisement at Komazawa University.

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