ABSTRACT
Japan’s advertising industry has a long history, reaching back centuries. The closest thing in Japan to the type of agency that developed in Europe in the
th century-which dealt in such matters as employment, real estate, leases, travel, and art brokerage-was probably the
kuchiireya
, a word that
literally means someone who “puts in a word” for another. According to the dictionary,
kuchiireya
is one who recommends the services of others, passes on messages, makes recommendations or introductions, or arranges for the employment of domestic staff. The
kuchiireya
conducts these activities as a business. People in this line of work came to be known as
keian,
named after the doctor Yamato Keian, who acted as a go-between for marriages among royalty during the Keian (
–
) and Shoo (
–
) periods. Yamato Keian is thought to have established his business in
; he was banished in
for embezzling money from dowries. The business of managing information for the purpose of introducing people also came to be known as
keian
. The first modern advertising company in Japan appeared in
as a purveyor of imported goods. In a notice in a Tokyo daily newspaper the company announced that its orders department would henceforth accept advertising commissions. It did not focus on advertising alone but also operated as a trading company.
