Photo/Illutration An in-train “nakazuri-kokoku” advertisement of the Shukan Bunshun weekly magazine (Provided by Shukan Bunshun)

People can study anytime, anywhere.

I once read somewhere about a person making use of “nakazuri-kokoku” advertisements, hung from the ceilings of commuter train cars, as their language study aid.

Typical ads proclaim headlines of the latest issues of popular weekly magazines.

Aboard a jam-packed train where there is no hope of even shifting one’s position, let alone opening a book, the person mentally translates the headlines into a foreign language one by one.

Such a diehard aside, I imagine many people have relied on these ads as a source of information of sorts.

From political issues to celebrity scandals, just looking at the headlines makes you feel you are keeping abreast of the latest news even if you don’t read the stories.

But those ads appear to have been on a steady decline in recent years.

According to a recent newspaper report, the publishers of the Shukan Shincho and Shukan Bunshun weekly magazines have decided to pull their ads.

In Shukan Shincho’s case, the publishers cited the proliferation of smartphones and the declining number of station kiosks as their reason, explaining that they can no longer expect passengers to buy the advertised issues as soon as they get off the train.

One underlying factor may have to do with the fact that the printing deadline for these ads comes ahead of the press time of the magazines themselves.

This means that the contents of the ads have to be finalized even while reporters are in the final stages of working on the stories.

I once heard about this dilemma from a weekly magazine staffer.

Another recent change is that East Japan Railway Co. has followed Central Japan Railway Co. in discontinuing their service displaying news headlines on the electronic bulletin boards on Shinkansen.

Come to think of it, we used to obtain information by gazing up at news bulletins and ads that were posted above eye level. But people are now invariably looking down at their smartphone screens.

I feel a bit saddened about this, perhaps because I’m an old-timer.

Riding my same old commuter train every day, I have always found a certain charm in the jumbled “colorfulness” of nakazuri-kokoku ads that changed every week.

--The Asahi Shimbun, Aug. 20

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Vox Populi, Vox Dei is a popular daily column that takes up a wide range of topics, including culture, arts and social trends and developments. Written by veteran Asahi Shimbun writers, the column provides useful perspectives on and insights into contemporary Japan and its culture.

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