Lost in Translation: Social Media Ads Appear to be Lacking in Japan

I recently returned from a trip to Japan where I visited Osaka, Kyoto, Hiroshima and Tokyo. One of the many cultural lessons I learned was about privacy: the Japanese tend to value personal privacy. This includes, for example, most people carrying two cell phones, one for work and one for personal use. It is also much less common to ask someone, “How are you?” as this can be perceived as invasive.

At the same time, the country is known for brash advertising, particularly in Tokyo. There were people in costumes outside of stores, huge posters and even photo-op gimmicks like this to lure passers by into shops:

Tokyo is a massive city — it’s population is 13 million compared to 8 million for New York City. And this population is very connected by mobile phone and internet. However, I was struck by the lack of social media icons attached to these ads. Not once did I see the icons for Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter or other platforms, even on subway cars with advertisements coming from live video and banners draped from the ceiling like this one:

My unconfirmed hunch is that the lack of social media promotion could relate back to the cultural norms regarding privacy. Perhaps it is seen as inappropriate for businesses to promote their products and services via advertisements linking to social media as this could be seen as an invasion of personal boundaries. I will ask some of my Japanese friends for more context, and please feel free to share any personal stories related to this lack of “translation” for social media promotion in public spaces in Japan.