Book excerpt: Mass Communication in Japan offers a rare inside look at mass media in an information society intimately related to and infinitely different from our own. Anne Cooper-Chen's overview of Japan's mass media reaches from its origins and functions to its current status and future prospects. She profiles segments of the industry: newspapers, news agencies, magazines and comics, broadcasting, advertising, and public relations. Cooper-Chen also examines such cross-media issues as law and regulations, journalism education and training, ethical crises, media images of women, minority/immigrant media, broadcast satellites and cultural imperialism.