ABSTRACT
This chapter surveyed the development of public relations by Japanese companies with a focus on the establishment of PR departments and the careers of PR managers. The establishment of PR departments became recognizable in the 1970s. The managers in such departments did not join the company with professional education in public relations but were hired as generalists and reached the position of PR managers after experiencing several departments within their companies. The position of PR manager is not a terminal position: employees tend to move on to other departments to be promoted. Therefore, many of the top managers have experience with public relations, which is a characteristic of public relations typical to Japan that may be called generalist PR.
