, formerly named until 30 June 2009, is a private non-profit organization that distributes

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

ese

public service announcements A public service announcement (PSA) is a message in the public interest disseminated by the media without charge to raise public awareness and change behavior. Oftentimes these messages feature unsettling imagery, ideas or behaviors that are des ...

on behalf of various sponsors, including both non-profit organizations and government agencies. Like the US counterpart, the

Ad Council The Advertising Council, commonly known as Ad Council, is an American nonprofit organization that produces, distributes, and promotes public service announcements or PSAs on behalf of various sponsors, including nonprofit organizations, non-gover ...

(where the Ad Council Japan is modelled), Ad Council Japan generally does not produce public service advertisements itself; rather, it acts as a coordinator and distributor. Its advertising campaigns are divided into three; national campaign, regional campaign and aid campaign. The advertising campaigns are changed yearly in July, the month Ad Council Japan was founded. Ad Council Japan accepts requests from sponsor organizations for Japanese advertising campaigns that focus on particular social issues. To qualify, an issue must be non-partisan and have Asian and Japanese national or regional relevance. Ad Council Japan then assigns each campaign to a volunteer advertising agency that produces the actual advertisements. Finally, Ad Council Japan distributes the finished advertisements to media outlets. Some advertising campaigns only appear on a certain medium, such as on printed media only. TV stations could also replace empty advertisement slots with those of Ad Council Japan if a company is willing to remove their advertisements from the station.

History

Ad Council Japan was established on 7 July 1971 in

Osaka is a Cities designated by government ordinance of Japan, designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the List of cities in Japan, third-most populous city in J ...

as "" by Keizo Saji, then chairman of

Suntory (commonly referred to as simply Suntory) is a Japanese multinational corporation, multinational brewing and distilling company group. Established in 1899, it is one of the oldest companies in the distribution of alcoholic beverages in Japan, and ...

, and had activities in the Kansai region. Then it was reorganised as the nationwide private organization named "" in 1974, and then renamed to the present name on 1 July 2009. AC Japan's headquarters are located in Chuo,

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

since July 2011. It has branch offices in

Sapporo is a Cities designated by government ordinance of Japan, designated city in Hokkaido, Japan. Located in the southwest of Hokkaido, it lies within the alluvial fan of the Toyohira River, a tributary of the Ishikari River. Sapporo is the capital ...

Sendai is the capital Cities of Japan, city of Miyagi Prefecture and the largest city in the Tōhoku region. , the city had a population of 1,098,335 in 539,698 households, making it the List of cities in Japan, twelfth most populated city in Japan. ...

Nagoya is the largest city in the Chūbu region of Japan. It is the list of cities in Japan, fourth-most populous city in Japan, with a population of 2.3million in 2020, and the principal city of the Chūkyō metropolitan area, which is the List of ...

, Osaka (formerly the AC Japan's headquarters since its establishment),

Hiroshima is the capital of Hiroshima Prefecture in Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 1,199,391. The gross domestic product (GDP) in Greater Hiroshima, Hiroshima Urban Employment Area, was US$61.3 billion as of 2010. Kazumi Matsui has b ...

Fukuoka is the List of Japanese cities by population, sixth-largest city in Japan and the capital city of Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan. The city is built along the shores of Hakata Bay, and has been a center of international commerce since ancient times. ...

, and

Naha is the Cities of Japan, capital city of Okinawa Prefecture, the southernmost prefecture of Japan. As of 1 June 2019, the city has an estimated population of 317,405 and a population density of 7,939 people per km2 (20,562 persons per sq. mi.). ...

. During the TV coverage of the

2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami On 11 March 2011, at 14:46:24 Japan Standard Time, JST (05:46:24 UTC), a 9.0–9.1 Submarine earthquake, undersea megathrust earthquake occurred in the Pacific Ocean, east of the Oshika Peninsula of the Tōhoku region. It lasted approx ...

events, the vast majority of advertisers withdrew their advertising, resulting in a massive increase in filler

advertisement Advertising is the practice and techniques employed to bring attention to a Product (business), product or Service (economics), service. Advertising aims to present a product or service in terms of utility, advantages, and qualities of int ...

s by AC Japan, many of which promoted traditional Japanese

virtue A virtue () is a trait of excellence, including traits that may be morality, moral, social, or intellectual. The cultivation and refinement of virtue is held to be the "good of humanity" and thus is Value (ethics), valued as an Telos, end purpos ...

s, such as mutual help ( giri, on,

amae ''Amae'' (甘え, ''amae'') is a Japanese concept referring to a form of emotional dependence or indulgent reliance on others, often characterized by a desire to be loved, cared for, or indulged by someone perceived as an authority figure or careg ...

) and the importance of

greeting Greeting is an act of communication in which human beings intentionally make their presence known to each other, to show attention to, and to suggest a type of relationship (usually cordial) or social status (formal or informal) between individ ...

References

External links

Official website

Ad Council Japan (JP)
Public service announcement organizations Non-profit organizations based in Japan Organizations based in Tokyo Organizations established in 1971 1971 establishments in Japan {{japan-org-stub

History

See also

References

External links

Official website