Japan just crossed a major advertising milestone that foreign brands should not ignore.
For the first time, internet advertising in Japan has reached a majority share of total ad spend. In Dentsu’s official “2025年 日本の広告費” release, Japan’s total ad spend in 2025 reached ¥8.0623 trillion, and internet advertising reached ¥4.0459 trillion, representing 50.2% of total advertising expenditures—the first time it exceeded half. (Source: Dentsu official release “2025年 日本の広告費”)
That headline is simple, but the strategic implications are big:
- Japan is now a digital-first advertising market, not a “mixed market”
- Growth is being driven by social and video formats
- Local ecosystems (like LINE/Yahoo! JAPAN) are becoming even more structurally important
- And for product brands, retail media and marketplaces are increasingly part of the performance mix
If your Japan plan is still built like “Google + Meta as the core, and digital as the extra,” it’s outdated.
This article breaks down what’s changing, why it matters for foreign brands, and how to build a modern funnel for Japan in 2026.
1) What actually happened (and what the 50.2% includes)
The phrase “internet advertising” can mean different things depending on the report. In Dentsu’s framework, インターネット広告費 (internet advertising expenditures) includes:
- internet advertising media spend,
- e-commerce platform advertising fees, and
- internet ad production costs.
Dentsu explicitly states this definition and structure in the official “2025年 日本の広告費” release. (See: Dentsu “2025年 日本の広告費”)
So, when we say digital is now “bigger than TV,” it’s not just “search ads vs TV spots.” It’s the total internet advertising category surpassing the overall share of other media categories.
That said, the shift is not cosmetic—it reflects where budgets, attention, and platform innovation are now concentrated.
For context, Dentsu reports that TV media advertising (terrestrial + satellite-related) was ¥1.7556 trillion in 2025, roughly flat year-on-year. (See TV breakdown in the same release: Dentsu “2025年 日本の広告費”)
Digital becoming the majority is not because TV suddenly collapsed—it’s because digital kept compounding.
2) Why the shift happened: video and social are pulling budgets upward
If you want the “why” in one sentence:
Japan’s digital growth is being pulled by video advertising and social advertising, especially mobile-first formats (including vertical video), and expanded viewing environments (including connected TV and OTT).
Dentsu’s companion release on internet advertising media spend provides the clearest data points:
- Internet advertising expenditures: ¥4.0459 trillion in 2025 (+10.8%)
- Internet advertising media spend (媒体費): ¥3.3093 trillion (+11.8%)
- Video advertising: ¥1.0275 trillion (+21.8%) — first time surpassing ¥1T
- Social advertising: ¥1.3067 trillion (+18.7%)
All of those numbers are stated in the “2025年 日本の広告費 インターネット広告媒体費 詳細分析” release. (Source: Dentsu internet ad media detailed analysis)
This is important because it tells you what’s actually pulling the market:
- Not only search
- Not only display banners
- But video and social, with formats that behave differently (creative speed, hooks, subtitles, trust cues, UGC-style edits)
If you’re a foreign brand entering Japan, this is the key takeaway:
You don’t win Japan by “running digital.”
You win by running the digital formats Japan budgets are shifting into—and tailoring them to Japanese trust behaviors.
3) What this means for foreign brands: “digital-first” changes the entry strategy
When a market becomes digital-first, “entry strategy” changes in three ways:
A) You can validate faster—but you must localize faster too
Digital-first markets reward speed: you can test messaging, offers, and audiences quickly.
But Japan punishes “lazy localization.” If your creative feels like a translated global ad, performance often stalls even with good targeting.
Japan is a trust-driven market. In many categories, the ads that win are:
- calmer,
- more proof-led,
- more transparent about process and pricing,
- and more consistent in design and tone.
B) Platform mix matters more than “channel labels”
In Japan, “digital” isn’t one thing.
Your audience can discover you on TikTok or YouTube, check you on Google, and then convert later through retargeting and marketplace intent.
If your plan is platform-siloed, you’ll undercount what works—and overspend on what looks good in one dashboard.
C) Local ecosystems become a strategic advantage, not an optional add-on
Japan remains unusually strong in local platform ecosystems compared to many Western markets.
That matters even more in 2026 because LY (LINEヤフー) is structurally consolidating ad inventory and operations—meaning local media planning will become less fragmented over time.
You don’t need to overcomplicate it, but you do need to treat local inventory as part of the serious planning conversation—especially for awareness and retargeting coverage.
(For the industry-level context on the 50.2% milestone, mainstream coverage also echoes the Dentsu numbers: see Nippon.com summary.)
4) Practical playbook: search + video + marketplaces = the modern Japan funnel
If you want a simple model that matches where Japan is heading, use this:
Step 1: Search captures intent (Google as the “decision engine”)
Search remains the most reliable channel when someone is ready to act:
- brand searches
- “near me” intent
- price/availability intent
- comparison intent
- booking intent
Don’t treat search as only “keyword bids.” Treat it as:
- landing page alignment,
- trust signals,
- and conversion friction removal.
Step 2: Video builds trust (YouTube/TikTok/short vertical)
The Dentsu numbers show video is growing fast for a reason: it does what static cannot.
The best-performing video formats in Japan tend to be:
- proof-first hooks (show the outcome before the explanation)
- subtitles (because muted viewing is common on commutes)
- product/process demonstration
- calm delivery over hype
Your goal is not “views.” Your goal is confidence-building.
Step 3: Marketplaces capture buyers (Rakuten, Amazon, Mercari category fit)
For product brands, marketplaces and retail media are increasingly part of “performance.”
Why? Because users are already in shopping mode.
This is where listing quality becomes your conversion layer:
- images
- titles
- review strength
- shipping clarity
- FAQs
If you don’t sell on marketplaces, the equivalent layer is your own e-commerce product page. Either way, digital-first means the “final click” needs trust and clarity.
Step 4: Retargeting ties it together (Meta/YouTube/LY inventory depending on audience)
Retargeting is how you recover:
- video viewers
- site visitors
- product page viewers
- cart abandoners
- lead form starters
Japan funnels tend to need more trust touchpoints. Retargeting is often what converts “interested” into “ready.”
5) What to do this month (fast actions that actually matter)
If you’re adjusting your Japan plan because of this milestone, keep it simple.
- Audit your mix: are you still mostly static + search?
- Add video variants: create 5–10 short vertical edits for one offer
- Fix trust signals: landing page clarity, reviews, process, pricing transparency
- Add a marketplace layer (if product brand): optimize listings like landing pages
- Improve measurement: define “qualified” conversion events and build clean reporting
FAQ (add this before your Conclusion for schema consistency)
Is this saying TV is dead in Japan?
No. TV is still big—Dentsu reports TV media advertising was about ¥1.7556 trillion in 2025. The point is that digital is now the majority share, and the fastest growth is in video/social formats. (Source: Dentsu “2025年 日本の広告費”)
Why does digital overtaking 50% matter for foreign brands?
Because Japan is now “digital-first” structurally. Your entry strategy should prioritize searchable intent, scalable video, and measurable retargeting—not treat digital as an extra layer.
What’s the biggest growth driver inside digital?
Dentsu’s detailed analysis highlights strong growth in video and social advertising, with video advertising exceeding ¥1 trillion for the first time. (Source: Dentsu internet ad media detailed analysis)
What’s the simplest modern funnel for Japan in 2026?
Search (intent) + Video (trust) + Marketplace/product pages (conversion) + Retargeting (recovery).
Conclusion
Japan’s advertising market just flipped: digital is now the majority.
For foreign brands, this isn’t a trivia headline—it’s a strategic signal. The brands that win in 2026 will build Japan plans that match where budgets and attention are shifting: video growth, social growth, and commerce-first conversion layers.
At Krows Digital, we help foreign brands and local teams build Japan-specific acquisition systems across Google, Meta, TikTok/YouTube, LINE/Yahoo ecosystems, and marketplace-aware performance funnels—so digital spend turns into measurable outcomes, not just traffic.
Contact Krows Digital
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