'The Advertising Man Who Shaped the Showa Era' Released

On July 31, Sankosha published "The Advertising Professional Who Shaped the Showa Era." The author is Professor Reiko Tsuchiya of Waseda University's School of Political Science and Economics.

During the turbulent Showa era, as Japanese companies turned profits and newspapers, magazines, radio, and television experienced rapid growth, it was the advertising professionals who supported and orchestrated these developments behind the scenes. Their efforts transformed the advertising industry—once not considered a legitimate business—into a trillion-yen industry after the high-growth period, turning it into a glamorous and popular field.

Yet, they were essentially stagehands, moving according to the client's orders. Even as their creations dominated the media spotlight, records of postwar advertising professionals speaking for themselves were almost nonexistent.

Marking the 70th anniversary of the war's end, this book compiles interviews with former employees of three advertising agencies emblematic of the Showa era—Mannensha, Hakuhodo, and Dentsu Inc.—and presents them in a book form. It preserves the testimonies of advertising professionals who shaped their times for posterity and serves as a Showa-era historical record seeking clues for the future.