Dentsu's Takuma Takasaki as a role model for generation Y

In an organisation of 20,000, it is not easy to gain recognition. While Dentsu is a highly awarded network, few of its creatives are known outside the agency, let alone in markets outside Japan. Takuma Takasaki is one who has broken the mould.

In March, the 41-year-old creative director was named ‘Creator of the year’ for a second time by the Japan Advertising Agencies Association in recognition of his contribution to the industry.

The Fukuoka native is best known for his work with clients such as the East Japan Railway Company, the Japan Racing Association, Suntory, Intel and Toshiba. His TV work, such as the railway company’s My First Aomori, and Fuji TV’s Honokaa Boy, a feature-length production sponsored by the likes of Kao, Meiji and Tokyo Gas for which he wrote the screenplay, often has a whimsical style that springs from a desire to develop film “that people want to come and see instead of just passively watch”.

More than anything, he believes advertising creatives “should move in the direction of creating something valuable… something that means something to society”.

This approach can be traced back to Takasaki’s days at Waseda University, when he began making movies with a view to entering the film industry. Ironically, he entered the world of advertising not because of an interest in commerce, but because it seemed “more closely related to making films than movie companies themselves”.

That was back in 1993. Today, he describes advertising as a “natural calling” — which is a good thing, considering that his work allows little time for any other pursuits.

Yet in a market where TV remains dominant, Takasaki claims not to be bound by any single medium: he has written a serialised story for a newspaper among other non-commercial ventures, and does not see any particular need for specialisation. “If you don’t enjoy working with each medium, your creativity can’t be fully realised and you may be limited in your expression,” he says.

Likewise, while Dentsu is famous for its hierarchical structure, Takasaki does not feel restricted. For him, the mammoth network is not markedly different to the independent digital agencies that continue to spring up across Tokyo. “I seldom see an organisation as a working unit,” he says. “Instead, I see only capable individuals. But I think the environment in which an individual can maximise his capabilities differs from one to another.”

Dentsu’s environment may not have changed dramatically over the course of its 100-year history, but it is evolving nonetheless — inevitable given the continuous change and challenges in
Japanese society.

Takasaki notes that the rate of overseas assignments is increasing dramatically; within Japan, he says the era of widespread reliance on celebrities in advertising has ended, giving way to a broader spectrum of creative possibilities. As generation Y spurns the typically ‘corporate’ professions followed by their parents, he claims talented people are still attracted to advertising as a career that offers more room for self expression than most. Rather than simply offering a promotional service, Takasaki says that advertising should now be in a position “to create a pivot around which the economy revolves”.

A bold statement, but it is the kind of thinking the industry needs. Akira Kagami, Dentsu’s executive adviser and global ECD, sees Takasaki as an inspiration for a new wave of Japanese creatives.

“Takasaki is not a genius,” Kagami says. “Nor is he a person who just works hard. He is someone who discovers the possibilities in each [project], and discovers what he himself can do. He is the same as us — therefore, he is our hope.”

This article was originally published in the July issue of Campaign Asia-Pacific.