Activities and Future Outlook of the Japan Society for Studies in
Journalism and Mass Communication
Japan Society for Studies in Journalism and Mass Communication
The Japan Society for Studies in Journalism and Mass Communication was established onJune 16, 1951, first under the name of the Journalism Society of Japan. Even then, the use of thename the Society for Studies in Journalism and Mass Communication came up for discussion as alikely candidate, but the Journalism Society of Japan was selected on the basis of the idea thatnewspapers primarily deliver news, thereby encompassing a wide range of fields such as
journalism and reporting. This name was also significant as it was based on the tradition ofjournalism and media studies that had been conducted under the concept of journalism studies since
the days before World War II.
1. Formation of Prewar Journalism Studies
Works conceived as journalism studies were already being published in the 19th century. The
earliest work in journalism studies was MATSUMOTO Kunpei’s Journalism Studies: The
Journalism Business in the West written in 1899, which was a textbook for journalists. From the
beginning, journalism studies and journalist training have been intertwined.
It was the mass-ification of the media as a social phenomenon in the 1920s that became theturning point that led to the rise of journalism studies as an academic discipline. In 1924, two
newspaper companies announced that their circulation had surpassed one million, and other mass
media were also emerging due to the large-scale production and sale of magazines and books aswell as the commencement of radio broadcasting. Thus there emerged a new academic discipline
focusing on this social trend. One such researcher was HASEGAWA Nyozekan, who began his
career as a journalist. Based on his experiences and thoughts, he advocated a theory of journalismthat made use of original concepts entirely distinct from any Western social theory. While histheory received a lot of attention as being indigenous to Japan, it was not sufficiently organized andtherefore was not pursued in subsequent studies. In that same period (in 1922), ONO Hideo
authored what can be called the first comprehensive history of journalism in Japan—The History of
the Development of Japanese Journalism. Based on his research in Europe he endeavored tosystematize journalism studies by introducing German journalism studies into Japan, while making
every possible effort to establish a center for journalism studies at Tokyo Imperial University’s
Faculty of Letters. The center opened in 1929 and was run by Ono, KOYAMA Eizo, and others,
fulfilling a key role in journalism studies in Japan’s academic world. YONEYAMA Keizo andothers at Keio University were also researching journalism, as such prewar research became quite
active in the 1930s. However, journalism studies like these were gradually incorporated into thenational propaganda machine as cogs to wage an all-out war. As a result, Ono along with others
worked for the Information Bureau undertaking research and theorization on wartime propaganda.

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2.

Journalism Research and Mass Communication Research in the Postwar Period

The postwar years saw the remarkable growth of this research, particularly under the influenceof American research. American research invigorated Japanese research, forming two mainbranches: journalism research and mass communication research. While German journalism studies
had influenced prewar Japanese journalism studies, it was American journalism research that was
now introduced into Japan. It had two aspects; one of them was research on journalistic activities
and systems that were developing and changing in such media as journalism, broadcasting, andmagazines through the application of sociology, political science, history, legal studies, and otheracademic fields. This was an attempt to advance research from a new perspective, while
simultaneously following the prewar tradition of journalism studies to a certain extent. The otheraspect was journalist training. This aimed to build up a more practical and systemized form ofjournalism education by working in close cooperation with journalism research. While drawing on
the prewar journalism studies for journalist training, the field was also influenced by the
democratization policy of the General Headquarters (GHQ) at the time. As part of the efforts toestablish firmly democratic journalism in Japan, the GHQ advocated the introduction of journalist
training curricula in many universities. Under such direct and indirect pressure, the following
institutions were founded: the Institute of Socio-Information and Communication Studies at the
University of Tokyo, the Institute for Communications Research at Keio University, theDepartment of Journalism at Waseda University’s School of Political Science, the Department of
Journalism at Nihon University’s Faculty of Law, the Department of Journalism at Sophia
University’s Faculty of Humanities, the Department of Journalism at Kansai University, and theDepartment of Journalism at Doshisha University’s School of Humanities. Some of these researchand training institutions have changed their names, but they are still playing key roles in journalism
research and training.
Another impact that American approaches brought us was mass communication research.
Before the war, the concept of mass communication was hardly known. IGUCHI Ichiro isconsidered to have first introduced it to Japan in 1951 with his work What Effect Does Mass
Communication Have on the Populace: Theory and Proof. Around the same time, in 1951,
MINAMI Hiroshi’s Social Psychology: Social Activity and Foundational Theory was published,introducing the concept of socio-psychological mass communication as well as that ofcommunication. This can be considered to have had a fresh impact on Japanese researchers at thetime. Attempts to find an appropriate Japanese translation of the phrase “mass communication”
were made, but in vain; as a result the English term was incorporated directly and has been usedsince then.
Mass communication research became very prominent with the successive publications ofresearch undertaken from different angles, including Lectures on Mass Communication edited by
SHIMIZU Ikutaro and others in 1955, Lectures on Modern Mass Communication edited by
HIDAKA Rokuro and others in 1961, and Lectures on Applications of Social Psychology edited by
MINAMI Hiroshi and others in 1959.
In addition, through journalism studies there emerged new approaches to address problems:136

SHIMIZU Ikutaro’s Journalism in 1949 and Mass Media Control in the Formative Period ofJapanese Fascism by UCHIKAWA Yoshimi and others from the University of Tokyo’s Institute ofSocio-Information and Communication Studies (published in the Shiso journals starting in July
1961), to give a few examples.
Thus, in June 1951 the Journalism Society of Japan was established as a forum wherejournalism research and mass communication research could stimulate each other and at times be
integrated. ONO Hideo became our organization’s first president, with 109 official members at thetime. The next year, in 1952, our first research presentation seminar took place at Nihon University,and since then academic conferences or symposia have been held twice annually in the spring andautumn. The publication of our organization’s journal, the Shimbungaku Hyouron (Japanese
Journalism Review), which is devoted to studies in journalism and mass communication, alsobegan in 1952. Since then our membership has continued to expand, reaching 848 by 1991.
3. Changing Our Name to the Japan Society for Studies in Journalism and Mass
Communication
In recent times mass media trends have varied greatly, particularly with the advent of
television broadcasting in 1953, which had not begun when the Journalism Society of Japan wasestablished. This turned out to have a substantial effect on politics, society, and culture.
Furthermore, with the growth of the so-called interpersonal media, the need has arisen to survey
not merely the mass media, but also diversified types of media, considering all forms ofcommunication in society as a whole. Our members’ research fields and methods have increasingly
expanded with these changes.
On the basis of this expansion, our Society was compartmentalized into the following researchcommittees in 1989: the Theory Research Committee, Journalism Research Committee, andBroadcast Research Committee. After going through various discussions within the Society, ourname was changed to the Japan Society for Studies in Journalism and Mass Communication in June
1991. The reason why the English name was chosen was that we had a definite intention to reflect
the significance of journalism studies, which had accounted for the majority of our activities up
until that point. Along with the change in name, the journal name was also changed—to keep up
with the dynamism and diversification of our members’ research—from the Japanese Journalism
Review to The Journal of Mass Communication Studies, which has been published twice annually
since 1993.
Our membership, particularly with regard to younger members, has also expanded greatly,reaching 1,323 members as of March 31, 2012. The Society organizes a research summit twice ayear and draws up plans for symposia and workshops based upon timely themes, thereby raisingquestions over themes and methods of research and promoting debate among members. Recently,
the quality and quantity of our members’ individual research have also improved. In terms of ourmanagement structure, research committees focusing on theory research, journalism research,broadcast research, multimedia research, media history studies, and media ethics/legal studies havebeen established. Each committee has been developing research activities by holding seminars and137

integrating and expanding the diversifying interests of our members.
Our Society is distinct in that it enables researchers from diverse academic fields such associology, political science, legal studies, history, social psychology, and psychology to gather todebate mass communication and media issues and deepen their studies. With the diversification of
the media in recent years and the accompanying social phenomena, our Society has broadened andgrown steadily to include the increasing number of researchers who are pursuing such new researchmethods as are being adopted in socio-information or cultural studies.
Another striking feature of our Society is that it has a large number of active journalists asmembers. Since its inception, a defining trend in the Society has been that researchers andjournalists explore the problems faced by journalism and search for solutions together. Furthermore,journalist training has also been a pillar of our Society’s activities. Since 1985, unofficial
discussion-based gatherings on mass communication training have been held between academic
researchers or educators and mass media leaders.
Furthermore, since 2001 our Society has been honoring publicly its promising members; theirresearch articles are published in its journal, the Journal of Mass Communication Studies, some ofwhich receive every other year the Japan Society for Studies in Journalism and Mass
Communication Distinguished Article Award. The Uchikawa Yoshimi Memorial Mass
Communication Studies Fund, dedicated in the memory of our former president Uchikawa Yoshimi,
has also been established with funds provided by him. As part of the Fund’s activities, theUchikawa Yoshimi Memorial Society Award was created to recognize exceptionally distinguishedstudies by the members.
4. Mass Communication Research and Journalism Research
Under the strong influence of postwar American mass communication studies, masscommunication research in Japan has grown in dynamism. Naturally enough, however, the researchin Japan has developed differently from that in the United States and Europe, with it being
influenced by the uniqueness of Japanese society, academic research traditions, and associatedresearch fields. In particular, early postwar Japanese mass communication researchers mostly
shared their perceptions of certain issues, focusing on the mobilizing mechanism of minds andbodies in wartime, particularly in relation to the role the media played at the time. This role wasconsidered to include issues that should be elucidated in many fields such as legal systems andmedia companies, as well as the mindset of readers and audiences.
Japanese mass communication research can be broadly split into three approaches: the masssociety approach, the Marxist approach, and the American-born socio-psychology approach.
The mass society approach is considered to have been strongly affected initially by Shimizu
Ikutaro’s Social Psychology in 1951, and the American mass society theory and popular culture
theory were subsequently introduced into the approach. Mass communication studies from this typeof approach did flourish; partly because it was a theory completely suitable for explaining thewartime system; partly because Japanese society at the time was about to take a turn for the rapid
economic growth after going through its postwar recovery stages; and partly because mass society138phenomena were beginning to become prominent with such media as newspapers, magazines, radio,
television, and film rapidly expanding. This trend should have been a trigger for a major debate
over social and cultural issues. It was not always accompanied, however, by empirical methods,
and therefore temporary fads tended to predominate in discussions.
Marxism flourished in economics, political science, and sociology in postwar Japan and hadsignificant effects on mass communication research. It opened new fields of inquiry, focusing on
industry analyses of the mass media, or labor processes and organizational theories in the media
companies. In addition, it bore noteworthy results such as deciphering the ideology of theprinciples of neutrality, nonpartisanship, and editorial control extolled by the mass media.
Representative works of this research were Comprehensive Theory of Mass Media by INABA
Michio in 1987 and Modern Japanese Mass Communication Lectures edited by KITAGAWA
Takayoshi and others in 1972.
The most vigorous of all the approaches in mass communication research was thesocio-psychological approach. This approach became quite prominent on the basis of the continued
introduction of theories from American mass communication research, which were appealing interms of not only theory but also in stimulating sociological and psychological research methods
that applied statistics. This does not imply that such research methods did not exist in Japan before;
rather, it implies that quantitative research methods had not been sufficiently developed up to thatpoint. The newly introduced quantitative research methods and socio-psychology theory came
together to lead researchers to proactively conduct research that adopted this new approach.
Furthermore, with the rapid spread of television, extensive discussions on its political, social, andother implications advanced the requirement of positivist research.
However, Japanese researchers did not necessarily incorporate American theory directly into
their own research as it is. For instance, Japanese researchers conducted surveys and research on
the two-tiered mass communication theory and small-group role theory developed based upon
American society. But what concerned these researchers most was whether thought based on club
activities, grassroots movements, and individual experience could overcome the influence of masscommunication. It reflected the firm resolution to actively oppose the influence of the mass media
through the formation of local groups. This matter can be traced back to concerns about regrets
over the past all-out wars. Not all researchers held these concerns, of course; however, it existed at
the core of the leading research and gave birth to unique studies and theories.
Representative works from the socio-psychological approach include TAKEUCHI Ikuro’s
Social Theory of Mass Communication in 1990, KOJIMA Kazuto’s Development of Mass
Communication Reception Theory in 1993, and OKADA Naoyuki’s Political Sociology in Public
Opinion in 2001, all of which developed theories based on investigative research. There are various
other unique communication theories such as SATO Takeshi’s Mass Communication Reception
Theory: Discursive Dissimilation Intermediary Variables in 1990 and FUJITAKE Akira’s Modern
Mass Communication Theory in 1968.
Concerning the effects of mass communication in elections, a significant number of surveys
and theoretical frameworks have been undertaken in America. In Japan as well, a long series of139

fresh empirical studies have been made based upon these American theories. Naturally, given that
American research serves as the base, differences between American and Japanese societies havegiven birth to new theoretical developments.
Meanwhile, journalism research has overlapped with constitutional studies, history, politicalscience, and ethics in such various domains as legal systems, history, and ethical conduct. Researchon certain legal systems existed before the war; however, the weak understanding of freedom ofspeech made it no better than an interpretation of legal articles. In the postwar period, freedom ofspeech and the press became the most important pillars of journalistic legal system research. Thiswas closely related to constitutional theory and therefore has overlapped with excellent theoreticalresearch undertaken by constitutional scholars. Research on concrete issues from the perspective of
freedom of speech and press that journalistic activities face has been very important. Excellent
thoughts on this area by scholars such as ISHIMURA Zensuke and SHIMIZU Hideo have beenpresented and collected in great volume.
A great deal of research has been conducted on what the broadcast systems ought to be,because the massive postwar development of broadcasting was made possible by a medium whose
management can be only formed under a system. The Broadcasting System: Its Present State andFuture Prospects edited by ITO Masami in 1978, An Introduction to Broadcast Studies edited by
the NHK Broadcasting Cultural Research Institute in 1970, and The Public Aspect of Broadcastingedited by the Japan Commercial Broadcasters Association in 1966 have discussed and analyzed thebroadcasting system from many angles. Since then, however, the broadcast media has greatlychanged and corresponding theories have grown significantly more diverse.
Not only systems but also journalism models are being strongly considered, having become amajor theme of journalism research. The concept of editorial control was advocated in postwar
Japan as an internal journalism model, and a large number of significant studies have been made on
the subject. YAMAMOTO Akira’s Modern Journalism, 1967, provides a particularly astute criticalanalysis on the concept of editorial control.
In terms of historical research, the question of how to deal with research on the highs and lowsof journalism since the prewar years was a major topic. YAMAMOTO Fumio authored the earliest
postwar book examining this area from a social history’s perspective, A History of Japanese
Journalism, in 1948. In the 1950s and ’60s, the possibilities of applying mass communication
theory to historical research were debated. However, applying existing theories to historicalphenomena is merely a tautology and may close the rich field of historical research that resultsfrom a conversation between past and present. In fact, various positivist historical studies havebeen compiled with emphasis on individual phases while considering the overall communication
process. The examples include UCHINO Shigeki’s The Process of the Creation of American
Journalism in 1960 and Uchikawa Yoshimi’s History of Legal Policy on Mass Media in 1989.
Recently, the concept of the media has become important to historical research as well, withthe widespread use of a broader framework of media history, which used to be referred to as themass communication development history. The approaches to the research have grown increasingly
broad and diverse by historically relativizing the acts of reading, writing, and watching. New
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horizons for historical research have been ushered in by KOUCHI Saburo’s The Birth of ‘theReader’ in 2004 and TSUGANESAWA Toshihiro’s Research on Modern Japanese Media History
in 1998.
In recent years, the maintenance of the necessary materials for historical research has notably
advanced. Most newspapers have been converted to microfilm and are housed in libraries; many
papers such as the Asahi Shimbun and the Yomiuri Shimbun can be accessed through databases.
Discontinued major papers such as the Jiji Shimpo, the Nihon, The Nation’s Friend, and the
Nihonjin have been reprinted and are easily accessible. Preservation efforts for such broadcast
media as radio and television are lagging; however, maintenance systems for preservation andaccess are advancing in NHK’s Archives, The Broadcast Library, and the like.
Major topics for mass communication or journalism research now include the problem ofcombining and unifying these research domains as well as creating a path for the spontaneousdevelopment of broadly defined communication research which has its basis in new media trends.
Interest in the mass media and journalism as they appear in everyday communication activities has
been advanced by The Science of Thought group of TSURUMI Shunsuke and others. In addition,
KATO Hidetoshi has presented a great deal of interesting research. Works have been edited basedon this perspective, including The Mass Communication Encyclopedia edited by Minami Hiroshi in
1971; the 1973 five-volume Lectures on Modern Society and Communication edited by Uchikawa
Yoshimi, OKABE Keizo, and others; and the 1973 six-volume Lectures on Communication editedby ETO Fumio, Tsurumi Shunsuke, and YAMAMOTO Akira.
However, as new media continue to develop, creating previously non-existent possibilities forcommunication, it becomes all the more urgent that issues of concern for the core of existing
research frameworks be invigorated while also developing new research frameworks and methods.
Since its inception, the Japan Society for Studies in Journalism and Mass Communication has been
a forum for researchers with wide academic research backgrounds to come together to elucidate thereal-life social phenomena of mass communication. The diversity of our research as well as theexchange and debate brought by it has been the hallmarks of our organization. In an era when greatchanges have been happening in the media, a key focus area is the deepening and expanding of ourresearch activities through applying the dynamism from our diverse interactions.
5. International Exchange and Post-earthquake Research Activities
In such an environment, research exchanges with overseas researchers have become a very
important issue. Furthermore, it is important to focus on research on core social issues that havebeen exposed by the March 11, 2011 earthquake and tsunami.
International exchange has been a consideration for the Society since its founding, and various
individual members have taken part in international research conferences. However, our exchanges
as an organization are not necessarily well developed. The Japan-Korea or Korea-Japan
International Symposium has been co-hosted each year since 1991 in both countries incollaboration with the Korean Society for Journalism and Communication Studies. The project has
been highly successful, with its 18th meeting held in 2012. However, the three-country Northeast
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Asian Symposium in June 2005, which also included China and was held in Beijing and Tokyo, did
not last.
A group of interested members of our Society organized “a journalism studies visit” to China
in 1983, visiting Beijing and interacting with Chinese research societies. The same year, adelegation from the journalism studies research center at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences
visited Japan and exchanged their views with our Society. Based on these exchanges, the Society
sent eight members to China in 1986 to visit China’s journalism studies research institutes andmass media institutions in a series of academic exchanges. In addition, we received a researchdelegation from the same research center at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences in 1991.
During our 50th anniversary year in 2001, we invited American and British researchers tointernational symposia in Tokyo and Kyoto, which had an energizing effect on all Society activities.
A similar international symposium was planned for 2011 for our 60th anniversary, but was
unfortunately canceled because of the earthquake and tsunami.
Though our individual members have attended international research conferences for many
years, our exchanges as an academic organization are not necessarily well developed. However, forthe first World Journalism Education Congress in Singapore in 2007, hosted by the Asian MediaInformation and Communication Centre (AMIC) and the Association for Education in Journalism
and Mass Communication (AEJMC), three of our members attended and presented their research.
Furthermore, we have been concerned about publishing an international journal to present our
research activities to a wider audience abroad. Preparations for it are currently underway. The
unprecedented destruction from the March 11, 2011 earthquake and tsunami shocked the very
foundation of our society. This was not a passing incident, but exposed the deep fault lines in thestrata of this society that were already existent, and presented a glimpse of the dark side of thesociety. The disaster led researchers to question the basis of their research frameworks.
The issues facing mass communication and media research are both profound and vast. To
begin with, it is difficult to fully ascertain these issues. Our Society held its 60th anniversary
symposium on March 3, 2012 under the title, “Assessing Reporting on the Earthquake and Nuclear
Disasters: 3/11 and Postwar Japanese Society.” Researchers and active journalists presented theirviews on the current understanding and issues to be addressed. Moving forward, it is essential that
we further deepen our discussions on reassessing the problems in our research frameworks andmethods that have been exposed by 3/11.
Contact Information:
Website: http://www.jmscom.org/

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