The Japan Advertising Council, commonly known as the Japan Ad Council (Japanese:公共広告機構; Kōkyō kōkoku kikō), is a private non-profit organization that distributes Japanese public service announcements on behalf of various sponsors, including both non-profit organizations and government agencies. Established in 1971, it has headquarters in Osaka, Japan, with branch offices in Sapporo, Sendai, Tokyo, Nagoya, Hiroshima, Fukuoka, and Naha. Like the US counterpart, the Ad Council, the Japan Advertising Council generally does not produce public service advertisements itself; rather, it acts as a coordinator and distributor. The Japan Advertising Council accepts requests from sponsor organizations for Japanese advertising campaigns that focus on particular social issues. To qualify, an issue must be non-partisan and have Asian and Japanese national relevance. The Japan Advertising Council then assigns each campaign to a volunteer advertising agency that produces the actual advertisements. Finally, the Japan Advertising Council distributes the finished advertisements to media outlets.
