What is the Japanese press release format?
Japanese press releases share commonalities with English ones, but there are notable differences. The main purpose of a press release remains the same, which is to share information in a clear and concise manner. There are no strict formats for press releases, but they tend to contain the same information and sometimes in different order. Content aside, here is a standard format of a Japanese press release:
Title
Titles should be clear and concise and can be translated within 80 Japanese characters.
Sub-title
Sub-titles are directly under the title and should convey a short part of the most important information of the press release.
Images
Images are critical in Japanese press releases as media representatives rely heavily on them in judging newsworthiness. The Japanese media often uses the images in press releases for potential future projects, and generally, the higher quality and the more photogenic the image is, the higher chance the media will pick it up. Oftentimes, it is the image in the press release that has the influential power especially for TV media. Images may be placed immediately before the introduction or after depending on the image and the context you would like to use them in (example: using an image after describing a product, statistic, etc.).
Introduction
Introductions should be a brief summary of the news that is being delivered. Think who, what, when, where, why, and how when constructing this initial paragraph. The first sentence should introduce the entity (company, organization, etc.) with the following format or similar:
Company name (Address: City, State/Province/Prefecture, Country, CEO: CEO’s name)
Body Paragraph 1 with Header
The paragraph following the introduction should provide details of the product, service, event, etc. of the press release.
Body Paragraph 2 with Header
The second paragraph should provide background information on why the product, service, event, etc. came to be. This is also an opportune time to include statements from representatives.
Body Paragraph 3 with Header
The third paragraph should briefly explain activities regarding the product, service, event, etc. in the near future.
Boilerplate
Like English press releases, boilerplates should be a brief summarization of the entity of the press release. This usually consists of the founding date, company philosophy/practices, etc.
Contact
The last part of the press release must include the contact information of PR representatives. The following format is commonly used:
(Contact name, email address, phone number)
For visual reference, see below the standard format we use at Kartz:
