More and more interviews are conducted through video conferences as an

alternative to the ever falling number of press conferences in order to prevent

the further spread of COVID-19. This paper mainly discusses interviews conducted

with journalism practitioners to analyze how their communication were

affected by the pandemic in three aspects—namely, their communication with

interviewees, fellow journalists, and readers or the audience. The findings are

summarized as follows. First, reporters are hindered from conducting interviews

in person and depending on materials provided from interviewees

instead. Second, unable to help each other at press conferences or in person,

reporters are taken control of by interviewees. Third, scant coverage of

infected people and bereaved families was noted, along with coverage that triggers

on-line witch hunts targeting the infected, as well as a tendency among

officials and medical experts disclosure and coverage based on effectiveness in

curbing the pandemic, rather than the role of independent journalism.

This paper examines video games in order to discuss roles played by　media culture during the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2020, people spent a large　amount of their time playing communication-oriented games, such as “Animal　Crossing: New Horizons,” or social multiplayer games on smartphones. This　trend is an extension of the casual revolution in video games since the 2000s.

Notably, however, communication-oriented games during the pandemic also　seem to offer alternative means for casual ordinary communication in the　abnormal reality imposed by the pandemic. Their popularity is a sign of new　roles played by media culture and games.

　This report provides an overview of trends in Japanese publishing during

the COVID-19 pandemic. It examines means of publication with respect to distribution

channels in a broad sense, including in-store and online sales, libraries,

transmission of digital materials. Publication, in a proper sense, consists of

numerous elements to achieve various goals. In Japan, publication has consistently

taken place under a unified structure of distribution, which gave rise to

an unnatural and distorted environment deprived of external perspectives. This

problem surfaced when people attempted to access books during the pandemic,

which could spark off efforts among publishers to reorganize themselves and

draw an entirely new map for their future.

　This paper examines Japanese families in 2020 and their circumstances

brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic in order to describe obstacles and

potential for their relationships and communication.

　　The stay home campaign run by the government has driven the public to

encroach into the private realm by encouraging people to perform work

remotely from home. Sounder relationships formed by necessary dialogues during

the transition provided the unprecedented potential for the dismantlement

of the gender-based division of work. Meanwhile, mothers clearly faced difficulties

in childcare while confined at home. Longstanding social exclusion of mothers

and children in Japan was exacerbated by peer pressure associated with

the pandemic. Normally, the government is supposed to address such difficulties.

As affairs now stand in Japan, the market is supporting families by offering

intangible experiences to cope with their circumstances.

　In Japan, no legal measures have been taken to restrict activities of citizens

in coping with the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. People are simply exercising

self-restraint as requested by the government. Self-restraint has been a

contradictory yet widely practiced behavior among Japanese at turning points

throughout the country’s history from wartime to the present day. This paper

discusses the roles of such a behavior after picking key turning points based on

the analysis of a number of relevant newspaper articles of the Asahi Shimbun

and Yomiuri Shimbun. Examples include the establishment of the wartime

regime, the inception of the LDP’s dominance under the 1955 system, the oil

crises, U.S.-Japan trade friction, the demise of Emperor Hirohito, neoliberal

reforms, and disasters triggered by the 1995 Great Hanshin and 2011 Tohoku

earthquakes. An observation of self-restraint among the Japanese under these

circumstances is followed by an examination of the workings of power and

norms in Japanese society.

　This paper aims to clarify what kind of changes were intended to be made

to the qualitative forms of reading in China during the 1930s, when the practice

of reading expanded quantitatively. For this purpose, from the perspective of

the history of reading that has been pioneered by Western historians like Roger

Chartier, the author reconfigured the social expectations for reading practices

based on the discourse analysis of book review journals, which were successively

published in the 1930s. As a result of this analysis, in contrast to the view

of previous studies that politics was only an external factor to the reading practice

stipulated by “market discipline,” a multi-tiered relationship between reading

and politics inherent in the discourse of the time would be revealed.

　　First, as the scope of must-read books became less obvious with the popularization

of publishing, readers were soon expected to discern and read “good

books.” The book review journals were the media functioning to guide readers

for this end, and not a few readers actively responded to the expectations by

subscribing to magazines. Then, in the context of the war and revolution of the

time, it was no wonder that political expectations were also placed on this

active readership. They expected to selectively read only those books that

would directly lead to political practice, arguing against the notion of intrinsic

value of reading under the name of “reading for its own sake.” The Nationalist

regime eventually shared this political expectation for reading but did not

exclude the idea of “reading for its own sake.” The political code of reading,

which strongly criticized its depoliticization, was passed on and institutionalized

after the establishment of the People’s Republic of China.

The attribution of responsibility is a daily sight in the mass media and one

of the roles expected of journalism. While reporting on responsibility is perceived

as a routine event, this paper considers the next issue: the plurality of

“responsibility” in the mass media. If the attribution of responsibility is determined

by certain rules, then the same result should always be achieved. However,

more than one “responsibility” may be presented for a particular agenda

that is controversial.

　　The paper focuses on the plurality of “responsibilities” and conducts a theoretical

research of epistemology and methodology. The paper begins with

Shanto Iyengar’s work on the attribution of responsibility and identifies the

problems with this research. Next, the paper discusses the attribution theory

developed by Fritz Haider in social psychology to which Iyengar referred.

Finally, in order to shift the perspective away from attribution theory, the

paper argue for the need to interpret the plurality of “responsibility” in a social

constructionism way. The paper will explore specific methodologies from this

position; for example, rhetorical analysis and framing analysis.

　　As a result, the attribution of responsibility in the mass media is not simply

determined by existing social norms and legal systems, but rather is a defining

movement of responsibility that is constructed through various interactions. In

the defining movement of responsibility, the process of justifying specific attributions

of responsibility is an important subject of research. In terms of influencing

the attitudes of the audience, both rhetorical and framing analyses need

to be conducted at the same time.

This article focuses on how the term kuchi komi （meaning “word of

mouth”） came to be used in advertising theory in Japan in the early 1960s from

a view of conceptual analysis.

　　So far, little attention has been given to kuchi komi in media history and

advertising history. This is because kuchi komi is a medium that leaves no

material or institutional traces. This article aims to provide a history of kuchi

komi by focusing on it as a concept, and analyzes how it came to be presented

as an advertising tool. We mainly analyze textual data that presented kuchi

komi as an advertising tool in the early 1960s.

　　As a result, we revealed:（ 1） the Reading Social Survey conducted during

1956 played an important role in the spread of the “opinion leader” concept in

the advertising industry, and（ 2） the term kuchi komi was newly presented as

an advertising tool in the early 1960s in relation to the “opinion leader” concept.