A Breakthrough in Early Japanese TV Commercials: 1967
Yukie Takeuchi (Art and Advertising Design History, Doshisha University)
Why focus on the history of Japanese television commercials? Advertising rapidly incorporates new artistic trends. This seems to be a particularly prominent feature in Japan. However, research on Japanese television expression has been severely lacking until now.
Researchers have focused their efforts on studying websites and social media, positioning television as an old medium and neglecting it. Yet, considering the current boom in short-form videos, a historical exploration of television commercial expression—which can be seen as the origin of this trend—is crucial.
This lecture, based on Visiting Professor Yukie Takeuchi's 2025 publication, Showa no Kōkoku (Advertising in the Showa Era), focuses on a fashion commercial aired in 1967. This commercial was acclaimed at the time for its innovative expression, marking a turning point in television commercial expression. How was this expression able to be created? This lecture traces the evolution of video expression in Japan up to that point, as well as its social and cultural context. It also examines the influence on subsequent commercial work.
日本のテレビコマーシャルの歴史になぜ注目するのか。
広告には新たな芸術的潮流が迅速に取り込まれる。これは特に日本において顕著な特徴であるようだ。しかし日本のテレビ表現に関する研究はこれまで極めて不足してきた。今日の研究者はウェブサイトやSNSの研究に注力し、テレビは古いメディアと位置付け等閑視してきたのだ。しかし現在の短編動画の興隆を考えれば、その原点ともいえるテレビCM表現の史的探索は重要だ。
本報告ではvisiting Professorの竹内幸絵（たけうちゆきえ）が2025年に出版した『昭和の広告』を元に、1967年に放映されたファッションCMに注目する。このCMはその表現の新しさから、テレビCM表現の画期を作ったと当時評価された。なぜこれが作れたのか。日本のそれまでの動画表現の変遷と、社会的・文化的な背景をたどる。その後の表現への影響についても考察する。
About the speaker:
Dr. Yukie Taekuchi is a professor of art and advertising design history in the department of Media, Journalism, and Communications at Doshisha University. Her research interests include art history, social history, historical sociology, design history, and the history of advertising across multiple media (print, television).
She is a graduate of Kobe University and is a member of several associations, including the Japan Society for Design, the Japan Society for Mass Communication, the Japanese Society for Ethnic Arts, the Japan Advertising Society, and the Japan Society for Industrial Design. Recent books include Advertising in the Showa Era: Television Commercials Are Coming! (Seidosha, 2025) and Art and Society: Various Aspects of Creative Activity in the Modern Era (with Erika Takashina; Shinwa-sha, 2025).