Mass Communication Research in Japan

AbstractScientific research in mass communication began in Japan through interpreting and reexamining the theories and hypotheses developed during the 1940s and 1950s in the United States and Europe. A major part of the research has been carried out by universities and research institutes established by media associations. The Japanese Society for the Study of Journalism and Mass Communication, the nation’s largest academic association for mass communication research, now has more than one thousand members including journalists and mass communication researchers and scholars. The research interest is widely dispersed today and articles and books appearing every year covers a wide range of issues. Although most of them are published in Japanese, some are published in English presenting unique orientations.