Asatsu-DK Inc. (株式会社アサツー ディ・ケイ Kabushiki-gaisha Asatsū Di Kei?), often abbreviated simply as ADK or sometimes called Anime Densetsu no Kaitakusha (アニメ伝説の開拓者 A Pioneer of the Animation Legends?), is a Japanese advertising agency. Headquartered at Toranomon Hills, Minato, Tokyo since June 2014 (formerly at Tsukiji, Chūō, Tokyo), the firm is Japan's third largest advertising agency, after Dentsu and Hakuhodo.[1] The agency has 38 offices in over 15 countries. One of the offices, Asatsu-DK Europe, was established in 1993 in Amsterdam, Netherlands. The WPP Group holds a 20% share in Asatsu-DK.[1]
Asatsu Inc. was established in 1956 by current chairman Masao Inagaki. On August 1998, it entered into a professional tie-up with the WPP Group. It soon merged with fellow advertising agency Dai-ichi Kikaku Co., Ltd. (which was established in 1951) to form Asatsu-DK (where the DK stands for Dai-ichi Kikaku) on January 1, 1999.