Well, based on my experience, they don?t have much ads on TV in Japan.

When we got back to our hotel at night, I turned on the TV and some japanese drama was playing, I decided to watch it until I?d fall sleep. One thing I noticed unlike my own country, they BARELY have any adds at all. You don?t have time enough to make yourself a snack or go to the toilet! They would play about two commercial clips which were around 15-20 seconds each and then back to the show.

This makes sense if you think about it though. Given how watching tv is seen as "wasting time" in Japan, and most people only watch it when they come home from work before they sleep or something similar, making tv adds won?t really increase the company's market values.

Instead, walking around in the city's, sitting on trains, you?ll encounter ALOT of advertisement. Since lots of people take the train and walk around in the city everyday(believe me its crowded xD), they chose to use the adds there instead, that?s why you see "tv screens" on big building walls advertising about a new product.

So basically, Japan don?t have many adds on tv, you?ll see them while sightseeing in the towns instead