Why this seat is different in Japan
Japanese media works through structures that global communications playbooks do not describe. Press clubs (記者クラブ) attached to ministries and industry bodies control access for much corporate news; trade papers (業界紙) matter more than general media for B2B reputation; and crisis response is judged on the form and timing of the apology as much as on the substance. The communications head either knows these conventions or the company learns them in public.
Bilingual writing is the real test. Press releases, executive messages and internal communications must read as if written in Japanese by a Japanese writer, and the same material must go to regional and global stakeholders in English that needs no editing. Many candidates are strong in one direction. Ask for writing samples in both and read them.
The foreign executive is often the biggest communications task. Positioning a non-Japanese Managing Director with Japanese media, employees and customers, preparing them for interviews and speeches, and translating their intent into Japanese that lands is a distinct skill, and the communications head carries it.
Purpose of the role
Protect and build the company's reputation in Japan: lead media and stakeholder communications, give the leadership team a voice in Japanese and English, keep employees informed and aligned, and manage issues and crises so that they end sooner and cost less.
Key responsibilities
External communications
- Set the Japan communications strategy with the Managing Director and regional communications.
- Run media relations, press materials, interviews and events, including press-club and trade-media engagement.
- Manage social media in Japanese and the agencies that support it.
Executive and internal communications
- Prepare the Managing Director and leadership team for media, speeches and employee communication.
- Run internal communications that reach a Japanese workforce in its own language and reflect global messages.
Issues and crisis
- Maintain the crisis plan and lead response, including regulator, media and customer communication, with legal.
Corporate affairs
- Coordinate with government affairs, investor relations and corporate social responsibility where in scope.
Team and measurement
- Lead the team and agencies, manage the budget, and report on reputation and reach in terms the leadership team uses.
Candidate profile
Must have
- Ten or more years in corporate communications with at least four leading the function or a major part of it in Japan, in-house at a foreign-capital company or at an agency serving them.
- Media relations experience including crisis or issues management.
- Executive communications support for a senior leader, ideally non-Japanese.
- Bilingual writing demonstrated with samples.
Preferred
- Industry familiarity where regulation shapes what can be said: pharma, devices, finance, energy.
- Internal communications through a transformation or integration.
- Agency management and budget ownership.
Language
- Japanese at native level including press-quality writing.
- English at business level including writing for global stakeholders without editing.
Decide before you post
- Senior Manager, Director or Senior Director, with scope and pay to match.
- What sits in the role: media, internal, executive, crisis, government affairs, investor relations, social.
- Agency relationships and budget.
- The leadership profile the person will support, and whether the Managing Director is new, foreign or both.
- Any issue on the horizon. The communications head should hear it from you.
How hard is this hire
Moderate. Communications professionals are plentiful; those with crisis experience, executive-support experience and genuinely bilingual writing are a smaller group, and pharma and finance communications are specialties of their own. Expect three to four months. Searches fail when the writing test is skipped.
Interview questions that separate candidates
- Show me a press release you wrote in Japanese and one in English. Which did you write first?
- Walk me through a crisis you handled. What was the timeline from first call to statement?
- How did you prepare a non-Japanese executive for a Japanese media interview?
- Which trade publications and press clubs matter for our industry, and who do you know there?
- Tell me about an internal message global sent that you rewrote for Japan.
