According to Nikkei Advertising Research Institute (http://www.nikkei-koken.gr.jp), Japan's 2006 total ad expenses of 4,829 major companies increased by 1.6% to 3 trillion 574.262 billion yen, marking less growth compared to 2005, yet continuous growth for the third year in a row.

The number one spender was Toyota Motor with 105.412 billion yen (2.4% up year-on-year), the second, Matsushita Electric Industrial with 83.103 billion yen (4.8% up year-on-year) and the third, Honda Motor with 81.58 billion yen (8.5% up year-on-year).  They maintained the same top 3 positions since 2005.

Among top 10 companies, those achieved two-digit growth were telecommunications companies Soft Bank Mobile (4th place, 18.2% up year-on-year) and KDDI (8th place, 39.8% up year-on-year).  Since the introduction of mobile phone number portability system that allows users to switch cell phone operators without changing their numbers, both companies have been advertising aggressively to steal shares from NTT Docomo who holds the majority of the mobile phone market. 

An electric equipment manufacturer Sharp also increased its ad spend with two-digit growth rate (9th place, 41.5% year-on-year).  The increase seems to be the result of proactive advertising activities, given the heated competition in the digital consumer electronics market for flat-screen TVs and DVD players.

The top company among retailers was Ito-Yokado in 6th place.

Top 5 Spenders on Advertisement

By industry, 18 out of the entire 36 industries including retail, food, electric equipment and automobile showed increase over the previous year, and the rest 18, including chemistry, pharmaceutical and insurance, showed decrease.