Abstract
For a long time since the end of the last world war, studies of culture and mass communication in Japan had been conducted under the overwhelming influence of American"main stream". However the trend is now changing toward more or less"critical" approach. The situation in Japan could be paralleled that in U.K., France, U.S.A. and Germany, the typical of which is represented by the cultural studies in U.K. An overview is presented briefly regarding cultural studies and media theories. Development in studies of content and cultural globalization are also mentioned. Changes found in studies of culture and mass communication in Japan as well as elsewhere are inter-related with changes in theories of politics, economics, linguistics and anthropology.
