Japanese newspapers 3628057 200900457 2008-03-25T21:41:03Z 83.28.32.239 '''Japanese [[newspapers]]''' (新聞 "shinbun"), similar to their worldwide counterparts, run the gamut from general news-oriented papers to special interest newspapers devoted to [[economics]], [[sports]], [[literature]], [[industry]], and [[trade]]. Newspapers are circulated either nationally, by region (such as [[Kantō]] or [[Kansai]]), by [[prefecture]], or by city. Some newspapers publish as often as two times a day (morning and evening editions) while others publish weekly, monthly, quarterly, or even yearly. The five leading national daily newspapers in [[Japan]] are the ''[[Asahi Shimbun]]'', ''[[Mainichi Shimbun]]'', the ''[[Yomiuri Shimbun]]'', ''[[Sankei Shimbun]]'', and the ''[[Nihon Keizai Shimbun|Nikkei Shimbun]]''. The first two are generally considered anti-governmental while the latter three are considered governmental-friendly. ==Brief history== Japanese newspapers began in the 17th century as ''yomiuri'' (読売、literally "to read and sell") or ''kawaraban'' (瓦版, literally "tile-block [[printing]]" referring to the use of [[clay]] printing blocks), which were printed handbills sold in major cities to commemorate major social gatherings or events. The first modern newspaper was the ''[[Nagasaki, Nagasaki|Nagasaki]] Shipping List and Advertiser'', which was published bi-weekly by the Englishman A. W. Hansard. In November of the same year, Hansard moved the paper to Yokohama and renamed it as the ''Japan Herald''. In 1862, the Tokugawa shogunate began publishing the ''Kampan batabiya shimbun'', a translated edition of a widely-distributed [[Netherlands|Dutch]] government newspaper. These two papers were published for foreigners, and contained only foreign news. The first Japanese daily newspaper that covered foreign ''and'' domestic news was the ''[[Yokohama]] mainichi shimbun'', first published in 1871. Newspapers at this time can be divided into two types, ''Ōshimbun'' (大新聞, "large newspapers") and ''koshimbun'' (小新聞, "small newspapers"). People commonly referred to ''Ōshimbun'' as "political forums" because these papers were inextricably tied to the [[Popular Rights Movement]] (自由民権運動, "Jiyū minken undō") and its demands for establishing a [[diet of Japan|Diet]]. After the government's official announcement of the formation of the Diet, these newspapers, such as the ''Yokohama mainichi shimbun'' and the ''Chūgai shimbun'', became organs of the political parties. The early readers of these newspapers mostly came from the ranks of the former [[samurai]] class. ''Koshimbun'', on the other hand, were more plebeian, popular newspapers that contained local news, human interest stories, and light fiction. Examples of ''koshimbun'' were the ''[[Tokyo]] nichinichi shimbun'', the predecessor of the present day ''Mainichi shimbun'', which began in 1872; the ''Yomiuri shimbun'', which began in 1874; and the ''Asahi shimbun'', which began in 1879. In the 1880s, government pressure led to a gradual weeding out of ''Ōshimbun'', and the ''koshimbun'' started becoming more similar to the modern, "impartial" newspapers. Throughout their history, Japanese newspapers have had a central role in issues of [[free speech]] and [[freedom of the press]]. In the period of "[[Taishō]] [[Democracy]]" in the 1910s to the 1920s, the government worked to suppress newspapers such as the ''Asahi shimbun'' for their critical stance against government bureaucracy that favored protecting citizens' rights and [[constitutional democracy]]. In the period of growing [[militarism]] to the outbreak of total [[war]] in the 1930s to the 1940s, newspapers faced intense government [[censorship]] and control. After Japan's defeat, strict censorship of the press continued as the American occupiers used government control in order to inculcate democratic and anti-communist values. In 1951, the American occupiers finally returned freedom of the press to Japan, which is the situation today. ==Reproductions of Japanese newspapers== Listed below is an overview of reproductions of the three major Japanese daily newspapers, the ''Yomiuri shimbun,'' the ''Asahi shimbun'', and the ''Mainichi shimbun''. These historical newspapers are available in three major forms, as [[CD-ROM]]s, as [[microfilm]], and as ''shukusatsuban'' (縮刷版, literally, "reduced-sized print editions"). ''Shukusatsuban'' is a technology popularized by ''Asahi shimbun'' in the 1930s as a way to compress and archive newspapers by reducing the size of the print to fit multiple pages of a daily newspaper onto one page. ''Shukusatsuban'' are geared towards libraries and archives, and are usually organized and released by month. These resources are available at many leading research universities throughout the world (usually universities with reputable Japanese studies programs). One will need to check each individual library's collection for information about the availability of these sources. [[WorldCat]][http://firstsearch.oclc.org/] is a good starting point. ===''Yomiuri shimbun''=== In 1999, the ''Yomiuri shimbun'' released a CD-ROM titled ''The Yomiuri shimbun in the [[Meiji Era]]'', which provides a searchable index of news articles and images from the period. Subsequent CD-ROMs, ''The [[Taisho Era]]'', ''The Prewar Showa Era I'' and ''The Prewar Showa Era II'', were completed eight years after the project was first conceived. ''Postwar Recovery'', the first part of a postwar [[Shōwa period|Showa Era]] series that includes newspaper stories and images until 1960, is forthcoming. Issues of ''Yomiuri shimbun'' printed since 1998 are also available as an online resource through [[Lexis-Nexis]] Academic. ===''Asahi shimbun''=== The ''Asahi shimbun'' has a CD-ROM database consisting of an index of headlines and sub-headlines from the years 1945–1999. A much more expensive full-text searchable database is available only at the Harvard-Yenching Library at [[Harvard University]], which notably includes advertisements in its index. Researchers using other university libraries would probably have to first use the CD-ROM index, and then look into the microfilm or ''shukusatsuban'' versions. Microfilm versions are available from 1888; ''shukusatsuban'' versions are available from 1931. Issues of the ''Asahi shimbun'' printed since August 1984 are available through Lexis-Nexis Academic. ===''Mainichi shimbun''=== Microfilm versions of the ''[[Mainichi shimbun]]'' are available for the years 1984–2005, and ''shukusatsuban'' are available from 1950–1983. Issues of the ''Mainichi shimbun'' printed since [[March 27]], [[1998]] are available through ''[[Factiva]]''. ==Stance & circulation, only morning (2007)== *#Yomiuri : conservative (high quality paper) 10,042,075 *#Asahi : Left (high quality paper) 8,093885 *#Seikyo : Buddhism 5,500,000 *#Mainichi : Liberal/left (high quality paper) 3,974,559 *#Chunichi Shimbun/Tokyo Shimbun : Left (high quality paper) 3,475,049 *#Nihon Keizai : Economy (high quality paper) 3,034,481 *#Tokyo Sports : (Sports) 2,228,000 *#Sankei : Right (high quality paper) 2,191,587 *#Nikkan Sports 1,970,000 *#Nikkan Geadai : Left (Tabloid) 1,681,500 *#Akahata (Red Flag) : Communist Party bulletin 1,680,000 *#Yukan Fuji : Right (Tabloid) 1,559,000 *#Houchi Shimbun : (Sports) 1,428,000 *#Sankei Sports 1,367,734 *#Hokkaido Shimbun : Left (high quality paper) 1,209,231 *#Daily Sports 963,000 *#Chunichi Sports/Tokyo Chunichi Sports 942,034 *#Nishinippon Shimbun : Left (high quality paper) 852,943 *#Chugoku Shimbun : Left (high quality paper) 719,194 *#Shizuoka Shimbun : Left (high quality paper) 717,000 *#Kobe Shimbun : Left (high quality paper) 562,011 *#Kyoto Shimbun : Left (high quality paper) 506,841 *#Kahoku Shimpo : Liberal (high quality paper) 504,953 ==The number of copies published per 1,000 people== *1 [[Iceland]] 795.7 *2 [[Japan]] 634.5 *3 [[Norway]] 626.3 *4 [[Sweden]] 583.4 *5 [[Finland]] 518.4 *6 [[South Korea]] 449.8 *7 [[Denmark]] 442.9 source: WAN "World Press Trends" (2006)[http://www.pressnet.or.jp/data/01cirsekai.htm] ==References== *''[[Japanese Bibliography]], [[Columbia University]]'' : http://www.columbia.edu/~hds2/BIB95/ch08.htm *"Newspapers," in ''Kodansha Encyclopedia of Japan'' (Tokyo and New York: Kodansha, 1983). == See also == [[List of newspapers in Japan]] == External links == * [http://www.abyznewslinks.com/japan.htm Japan Newspapers and News Media Guide] at ABYZ News Links * [http://www.onlinenewspapers.com/japan.htm Japan Newspapers] at onlinenewspapers.com [[Category:Newspapers published in Japan|*]] [[ja:日本の新聞]] [[zh:日本報紙]]