Japan Media Review Update: February 23, 2004

JMR Staff (Annenberg School for Communication, University of Southern California)

Review
The following reviews are posted at: http://www.japanmediareview.com/japan/digest/digest.php

Internet Ad Spending Soars in 2003
From Japan's IT Media: Internet advertising spending in Japan increased 40 percent over the previous year while ad spending overall remained flat, according to a report by Dentsu Inc., Japan's largest advertising agency. Ad spending in Japan totaled approximately $52 billion, a 0.3 percent decrease over last year. But with an ever-increasing number of broadband users, many Japanese companies are recognizing the Internet as a developing segment of the mass media, Dentsu said. In response to the popularity of broadband, most Internet ads use Flash and streaming video. Ads on cell phones are increasing, often complementing a company's ad campaigns on TV and in other media. According to Asia Pulse and Nikkei via an Asia Times Online report, Dentsu's report indicated that Internet advertising could become bigger than the radio advertising market next year. Radio ad spending will probably remain flat in coming years, Dentsu added.
-- By Japan Media Review Associate Editor Zhen Wang and Contributing Writer Toru Takahashi

Attack in Iraq Targeted Japanese Media, Government Says
From The Asahi Shimbun: Japan's Defense Agency said a mortar attack last week in southeastern Iraq likely was aimed at Japanese media covering Japan's Ground Self-Defense Force. On Feb. 12 the mortars fell in Samawah near a building used by the Coalition Provisional Authority and a hotel where Japanese journalists are lodged. Agency officials said that in order to aim at the CPA building, however, the attack would have had to come from a closer distance, Asahi reported. The government sent troops to the area because it was considered stable -- now the SDF has said it is unprepared to defend itself against such attacks, according to the newspaper. Asahi also quoted a source in the Defense Agency as saying, "If the SDF is attacked, the whole world will become interested. From a terrorist's standpoint, there is greater value in targeting the SDF in comparison to the armies of other nations."
-- By Japan Media Review Associate Editor Keiko Mori

NTV Accused of Using Subliminal Images in Program
From Mainichi Daily News: Nippon Television Network (NTV) edited out images of a 10,000-yen bill from the opening credits of a TV program after accusations that the shots were subliminal. "Manee no Tora" (Money Tiger), in which participants pitch a business plan to successful executives in order to convince them to invest in the idea, included flashes of the bill's portrait of Yukichi Fukuzawa, a 19th century international scholar. The National Association of Commercial Broadcasters in Japan said subliminal images are inappropriate, whether they are intended to influence viewers or enhance the theme of a program. NTV officials responded that the show's producer intended "to create an impression of money, not aiming for subliminal (effects)." The broadcaster removed the image from the Feb. 9 program and subsequent airings.
This is not the first time Japanese networks have been accused of inserting subliminal images into programs, Mainichi reported. In 1989 a program in conjunction with NTV aired subliminal images of Shoko Asahara, founder of the doomsday cult Aum Shinrikyo, which was responsible for the deadly sarin nerve gas attack in a Tokyo subway in 1995. A headshot of the cult guru was added into a special by the Tokyo Broadcasting System (TBS) in May 1995.
-- By Japan Media Review Associate Editor Keiko Mori