Reflecting on Japan's Public Relations ―Toward a New Dimension Reconstructing PR Theory―①

Amidst drastic changes in the media environment and advancing globalization, what kind of philosophy is required of companies?
This time, we welcomed Seiya Igari, a pioneer in Japan's public relations field from its early days, known for his seminal work 'Public Relations in Japan: From the South Manchuria Railway to CSR'. He joined Sadashige Aoki, who has proposed corporate cultural power through research on corporate communication and branding. Together, they reflected on the history, discussed the importance of public relations as corporate communication, and explored challenges and prospects for its theoretical reconstruction.

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The Origins of Public Relations

Aoki: Japan seems poised for significant change following the Great East Japan Earthquake of 3.11. First, I'd like to hear your thoughts on the historical trajectory of public relations.

Igari: While 3.11 clearly changed Japanese society, I believe the shift from industrial capitalism to financial capitalism brought about profound changes in society and corporate activities even before that. To look back at this history, I wrote the book '100 Years of Public Relations in Japan'. In it, I touched briefly on America, the birthplace of public relations, and I believe its origins lie in the founding ideals of the United States. When people from Europe came to build a new country and new towns, it wasn't just the founding fathers like Jefferson and Adams who contributed; it was also strangers engaging in dialogue and debate to build communities and relationships.

In contrast, what became apparent after 3.11 was the absence of dialogue between power companies, politicians, and bureaucrats, and the lack of underlying ideology or philosophy in their actions. The word "kizuna" (bond) became popular, but creating bonds doesn't require many words. However, warm communication is certainly necessary. I came to think that public relations is, in a sense, about creating these bonds, and that it requires a certain ideology or philosophy.

Aoki: In Japan, public relations was translated as "public relations," but it was understood quite differently from its original meaning.

Igari: After the war, when public relations entered Japan from America, it was seen as a tool of democracy. The Japan Securities Investment Association published a monthly magazine called 'Public Relations' in the 1950s, and initially, its central theme was "democratization of management." However, the meaning of public relations had already changed considerably in America.

Modernization has two aspects: democratization and industrialization. In America, which never had a medieval period, these two were achieved simultaneously. This led to the rapid establishment of a mass consumer society, shifting the focus away from relations with the public and toward relations with consumers.

In Japan, American management techniques began arriving around the time of the Korean War in 1950. Public relations, which had already been integrated into marketing techniques in the US, became a tool for Japanese companies during their period of high economic growth. Abbreviated as "PR," it drifted away from its original purpose of managing relations with the public.

Regarding the term "public relations" (広報), it's said that before the war, the South Manchuria Railway had a department called "Kōhō" (弘報). After the war, when this concept was introduced to government agencies, English terms couldn't be used for department names. Since "Kō" (弘) was restricted under the kanji usage rules at the time, it became "Kōhō" (広報). Then, during the 1970s oil crisis, when corporate social responsibility was questioned, many companies established "Public Relations Departments" (広報課) as the media contact point.

Aoki: "Relations" inherently implies relationality, yet when translated, it was assigned the character for "report" (報) from "information." Professor Takumi Sato researched the etymology of "information" and found that Mori Ōgai apparently translated "information" this way. He shortened it from military situation reports to "information." This lacks the nuance of dialogue and relationship that underlies public relations.

Igari: I recall considerable debate over the name when establishing the Japan Public Relations Association. "Public Relations" implied one-way communication, while "Public Relations" would immediately be abbreviated to "PR." After discussion, we settled on the English name "Corporate Communication Studies," but we should have debated it further.

Public Relations vs. Public Relations

Aoki: Originally, the crucial question should have been: what kind of communication is needed to build relationships between companies and customers, companies and society, companies and communities? Yet it feels like companies started acting independently, leaving customers and society behind.

Igari: Japan has historically been quite insensitive to concepts like dialogue and relationships. At least before the war, dialogue wasn't even considered an issue. Then, Public Relations, transformed within American mass society, entered the picture and became PR – an extremely easy-to-say term. From its original roots, it became something completely different.

Aoki: Public relations carries the nuance of dialogue and building deep bonds, whereas information inevitably emphasizes news and reporting. How were public relations departments perceived within Japanese companies?

Igari: In 1978, Keidanren established the Economic Public Relations Center. The oil shock in the early 70s brought corporate social responsibility into sharp focus, making public relations crucial. While PR departments existed during the high-growth era, they were not the modern PR we know today; they weren't organizations designed to consider issues like social responsibility.

Among corporate PR personnel, PR was seen primarily as a promotional term, not something that considered or addressed social issues. Furthermore, the term "public relations" itself suggests "broadly informing," but I don't think the concept of "relations" emerged from that at all.

Aoki: When I lecture students, they often ask me, "Isn't PR just advertising and promotion?" They don't understand the difference. This is especially pronounced in Japan, where PR lacks any underlying philosophy, ideology, or social consciousness.

Igari: Recently, fields like political science have started discussing publicness and deliberative democracy. This is about publicness, about discussing relationships. Yet, in the world of public relations, such fundamental discussions are absent.

For example, in the current nuclear power plant issue, various public hearings are being held, but they appear to be nothing more than mere formal gestures. Shouldn't the administration and local public entities strive harder to foster public dialogue and relationship building?

[ Continued in Part 2 ]

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*The full text is available on the Yoshida Hideo Memorial Foundation website.