The was the first Okinawan newspaper."Ryūkyū Shimpō." ''Okinawa konpakuto jiten'' (沖縄コンパクト事典, "Okinawa Compact Encyclopedia")
Ryukyu Shimpo
(琉球新報). 1 March 2003. Accessed 6 September 2009. It was founded in 1893 by Shō Jun, a former prince of the

Ryūkyū Kingdom The Ryukyu Kingdom, Middle Chinese: , , Classical Chinese: (), Historical English names: ''Lew Chew'', ''Lewchew'', ''Luchu'', and ''Loochoo'', Historical French name: ''Liou-tchou'', Historical Dutch name: ''Lioe-kioe'' was a kingdom in t ...

, and is still in publication today. Historian

George H. Kerr George H. Kerr (November 7, 1911 – August 27, 1992), also known in Taiwan as 葛超智 (or 柯喬治), was a United States diplomat during World War II, and in later years he was an author and an academic. His published works and archived pap ...

says of the newspaper, upon its founding, that it "strengthened leadership and promoted the development of informed opinion on matters of public concern". It has also been described as speaking for the former ruling class of the kingdom. Editor-in-chief Ōta Chōfu, along with others from the newspaper, played a role in the Kōdō-kai Movement, arguing for leadership of the prefecture to remain hereditary within the Shō family, and opposing the

Freedom and People's Rights Movement The (abbreviated as ) or Popular Rights Movement was a Japanese political and social movement for democracy in the 1880s. It pursued the formation of an elected legislature, revision of the Unequal Treaties with the United States and European c ...

led in Okinawa by, among others, Jahana Noboru.Shinzato, Keiji, et al. ''Okinawa-ken no rekishi'' (沖縄県の歴史, "History of Okinawa Prefecture"). Tokyo: Yamakawa Publishing, 1996. p192. The Ryūkyū Shimpō company involved itself in development and modernization efforts in the island prefecture, spurring agricultural production and innovation by hosting competitions and exhibitions, and arranged in 1915 for the first demonstration of an airplane in Okinawa.Kerr. pp430-432 Originally published every other day, it became a daily newspaper in 1906."Ryūkyū Shimpō.
Kotobank.jp
2008. Accessed 6 September 2009. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, as the result of the national government's Newspaper Unification Policy, the paper was combined with the ''Okinawa Asahi'' and Okinawa Daily News (''Okinawa Nippō'') into the ''Okinawa Shimpō'', and did not resume publication under the name "Ryūkyū Shimpō" until after the end of the war. Today, it has the largest print-run of newspapers in Okinawa with both morning and evening editions, and the newspaper company is connected to a number of other businesses, including Ryūkyū Shimpō Shipping, Ryūkyū Shimpō Development, and

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ryukyu Shimpo Daily newspapers published in Japan Japanese-language newspapers Mass media in Okinawa Prefecture Companies based in Okinawa Prefecture