![Nakanoshima Festival Tower 20120429-001](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e5/Nakanoshima_Festival_Tower_20120429-001.jpg)
is one of the four largest
newspapers in Japan
Japanese newspapers ( , or older spelling ), 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 ci ...
. Founded in 1879, it is also one of the oldest newspapers in
Japan
Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
and
Asia
Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an area ...
, and is considered a
newspaper of record
A newspaper of record is a major national newspaper with large circulation whose editorial and news-gathering functions are considered authoritative and independent; they are thus "newspapers of record by reputation" and include some of the o ...
for Japan. Its circulation, which was 4.57 million for its morning edition and 1.33 million for its evening edition as of July 2021, was second behind that of the ''
Yomiuri Shimbun
The (lit. ''Reading-selling Newspaper'' or ''Selling by Reading Newspaper'') is a Japanese newspaper published in Tokyo, Osaka, Fukuoka, and other major Japanese cities. It is one of the five major newspapers in Japan; the other four are t ...
''. By print circulation, it is the third
largest newspaper in the world behind the ''Yomiuri'', though its digital size trails that of many global newspapers including ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
''.
Its publisher, is a
media conglomerate
A media conglomerate, media group, or media institution is a company that owns numerous companies involved in mass media enterprises, such as music, television, radio, publishing, motion pictures, theme parks, or the Internet. According to the ...
with its registered headquarters in
Osaka
is a designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the third most populous city in Japan, following Special wards of Tokyo and Yokohama. With a population of 2. ...
. It is a
privately held
A privately held company (or simply a private company) is a company whose shares and related rights or obligations are not offered for public subscription or publicly negotiated in the respective listed markets, but rather the company's stock is ...
family business
A family business is a commercial organization in which decision-making is influenced by multiple generations of a family, related by blood or marriage or adoption, who has both the ability to influence the vision of the business and the willingn ...
with ownership and control remaining with the founding Murayama and Ueno families.
According to the Reuters Institute Digital Report 2018, public trust in the ''Asahi Shimbun'' is the lowest among Japan's major dailies, though confidence is declining in all the major newspapers.
The ''Asahi Shimbun'' is one of the five largest
newspapers in Japan
Japanese newspapers ( , or older spelling ), 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 ci ...
along with the ''
Yomiuri Shimbun
The (lit. ''Reading-selling Newspaper'' or ''Selling by Reading Newspaper'') is a Japanese newspaper published in Tokyo, Osaka, Fukuoka, and other major Japanese cities. It is one of the five major newspapers in Japan; the other four are t ...
'', the ''
Mainichi Shimbun
The is one of the major newspapers in Japan, published by
In addition to the ''Mainichi Shimbun'', which is printed twice a day in several local editions, Mainichi also operates an English language news website called ''The Mainichi'' (previ ...
'', the ''
Nihon Keizai Shimbun
''The Nikkei'', also known as , is the flagship publication of Nikkei, Inc. (based in Tokyo) and the world's largest financial newspaper, with a daily circulation exceeding 1.73 million copies. The Nikkei 225, a stock market index for the Tok ...
'' and ''
Chunichi Shimbun
The is a Japanese daily "broadsheet" newspaper published in mostly Aichi Prefecture and neighboring regions by Based in Nagoya, one of Japanese three major metropolitan areas, it boasts the third circulation after the group newspaper Total Yo ...
''.
History
Early years
![Asahi-ASA](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e2/Asahi-ASA.jpg)
One of Japan's oldest and largest national daily newspapers, the ''Asahi Shimbun'' began publication in
Osaka
is a designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the third most populous city in Japan, following Special wards of Tokyo and Yokohama. With a population of 2. ...
on 25 January 1879 as a small-print, four-page illustrated paper that sold for one sen (a hundredth of a yen) a copy, and had a circulation of approximately 3,000 copies. The three founding officers of a staff of twenty were Kimura Noboru (company president), (owner), and Tsuda Tei (managing editor). The company's first premises were at Minami-dōri, Edobori in Osaka. On 13 September of the same year, ''Asahi'' printed its first editorial.
In 1881, the ''Asahi'' adopted an all-news format, and enlisted as co-owner. From 1882, ''Asahi'' began to receive financial support from the Government and
Mitsui
is one of the largest '' keiretsu'' in Japan and one of the largest corporate groups in the world.
The major companies of the group include Mitsui & Co. ( general trading company), Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, Nippon Paper Industri ...
, and hardened the management base. Then, under the leadership of Ueno, whose brother was one of the Mitsui managers, and Murayama, the ''Asahi'' began its steady ascent to national prominence. On 10 July 1888, the first issue of the ''Tokyo Asahi Shimbun'' was published from the
Tokyo
Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...
office at Motosukiyachō, Kyōbashi. The first issue was numbered No. 1,076 as it was a continuation of three small papers: ''Jiyū no Tomoshibi'', ''Tomoshibi Shimbun'' and ''Mesamashi Shimbun''.
On 1 April 1907, the renowned writer
Natsume Sōseki
, born , was a Japanese novelist. He is best known around the world for his novels ''Kokoro'', '' Botchan'', ''I Am a Cat'', '' Kusamakura'' and his unfinished work '' Light and Darkness''. He was also a scholar of British literature and writer ...
, then 41, resigned his teaching positions at Tokyo Imperial University, now
Tokyo University
, abbreviated as or UTokyo, is a public research university located in Bunkyō, Tokyo, Japan. Established in 1877, the university was the first Imperial University and is currently a Top Type university of the Top Global University Project by ...
, to join the ''Tokyo Asahi Shimbun''. This was soon after the publication of his novels ''Wagahai wa Neko de Aru'' (''
I Am a Cat
is a satirical novel written in 1905–1906 by Natsume Sōseki about Japanese society during the Meiji period (1868–1912), particularly the uneasy mix of Western culture and Japanese traditions.
Sōseki's title, ''Wagahai wa Neko de Aru'', us ...
'') and ''
Botchan'', which made him the center of literary attention.
On 1 October 1908, ''Osaka Asahi Shimbun'' and ''Tokyo Asahi Shimbun'' were merged into a single unified corporation, ''Asahi Shimbun Gōshi Kaisha'', with a capitalization of approximately 600,000 yen.
In 1918, because of its critical stance towards
Terauchi Masatake
Gensui Count Terauchi Masatake ( ja, 寺内 正毅), GCB (5 February 1852 – 3 November 1919), was a Japanese military officer, proconsul and politician. He was a '' Gensui'' (or Marshal) in the Imperial Japanese Army and the Prime Minister o ...
's cabinet during the
Rice Riots
The were a series of popular disturbances that erupted throughout Japan from July to September 1918, which brought about the collapse of the Terauchi Masatake administration.
Causes
A precipitous rise in the price of rice caused extreme economi ...
, government authorities suppressed an article in the ''Osaka Asahi'', leading to a softening of its liberal views, and the resignation of many of its staff reporters in protest.
Indeed, the newspaper's liberal position led to its vandalization during the
February 26 Incident of 1936, as well as repeated attacks from
ultranationalists
Ultranationalism or extreme nationalism is an extreme form of nationalism in which a country asserts or maintains detrimental hegemony, supremacy, or other forms of control over other nations (usually through violent coercion) to pursue its s ...
throughout this period (and for that matter, throughout its history).
Toward and during the war
From the latter half of the 1930s, ''Asahi'' ardently supported Prime Minister
Fumimaro Konoe
Prince was a Japanese politician and prime minister. During his tenure, he presided over the Japanese invasion of China in 1937 and the breakdown in relations with the United States, which ultimately culminated in Japan's entry into World W ...
's wartime government (called ''Konoe Shin Taisei'', or Konoe's New Political Order) and criticized capitalism harshly under
Taketora Ogata
was a Japanese journalist, Vice President of the Asahi Shimbun newspaper and later a politician. During the war, he joined the Imperial Rule Assistance Association. After the end of the war, he was purged from public service. Later, he became t ...
, the Editor in Chief of ''Asahi Shimbun''. Influential editorial writers of ''Asahi'' such as Shintarō Ryū, Hiroo Sassa, and
Hotsumi Ozaki
was a Japanese journalist working for the ''Asahi Shimbun'' newspaper, communist, Soviet intelligence agent, and advisor to Prime Minister Fumimaro Konoe. The only Japanese person to be hanged for treason (under the provisions of the Peace Pr ...
(an informant for the famous spy
Richard Sorge
Richard Sorge (russian: Рихард Густавович Зорге, Rikhard Gustavovich Zorge; 4 October 1895 – 7 November 1944) was a German-Azerbaijani journalist and Soviet military intelligence officer who was active before and during Wo ...
) were the center members of the
Shōwa Kenkyūkai
The was a political think tank in the pre-war Empire of Japan.
History and background
The ''Shōwa Kenkyūkai'' was established in October 1930 as an informal organization led by Ryūnosuke Gotō, with the original intent of reviewing and assess ...
, which was a political
think tank
A think tank, or policy institute, is a research institute that performs research and advocacy concerning topics such as social policy, political strategy, economics, military, technology, and culture. Most think tanks are non-governmenta ...
for Konoe.
Ogata was one of the leading members of the ''
Genyōsha'' which had been formed in 1881 by
Tōyama Mitsuru
was a Japanese right wing and ultranationalist founder of Genyosha (''Black Ocean Society'') and Kokuryukai (''Black Dragon Society''). Tōyama was a strong advocate of Pan Asianism (Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere).
Early life
Tōyama ...
. The ''Genyōsha'' was an
ultranationalist
Ultranationalism or extreme nationalism is an extreme form of nationalism in which a country asserts or maintains detrimental hegemony, supremacy, or other forms of control over other nations (usually through violent coercion) to pursue its sp ...
group of organized crime figures and those with far right-wing political beliefs.
Kōki Hirota
was a Japanese diplomat and politician who served as Prime Minister of Japan from 1936 to 1937. Originally his name was . He was executed for war crimes committed during the Second Sino-Japanese War at the Tokyo Trials.
Early life
Hirota was ...
, who was later hanged as a Class A war criminal, was also a leading member of the ''Genyōsha'' and one of Ogata's best friends. Hirota was the chairman of Tōyama's funeral committee, and Ogata was the vice-chairman.
Ryū, who had been a Marxist economist of the Ōhara Institute for Social Research before he entered ''Asahi'', advocated centrally
planned economies
A planned economy is a type of economic system where investment, production and the allocation of capital goods takes place according to economy-wide economic plans and production plans. A planned economy may use centralized, decentralized, part ...
in his ''Nihon Keizai no Saihensei'' (Reorganization of Japanese Economies. 1939). And Sassa, a son of ultranationalistic politician Sassa Tomofusa, joined hands with far-right generals (they were called ''
Kōdōha
The ''Kōdōha'' or was a political faction in the Imperial Japanese Army active in the 1920s and 1930s. The ''Kōdōha'' sought to establish a military government that promoted totalitarian, militaristic and aggressive expansionistic ideals, ...
'' or
Imperial Way Faction
The ''Kōdōha'' or was a political faction in the Imperial Japanese Army active in the 1920s and 1930s. The ''Kōdōha'' sought to establish a military government that promoted totalitarian, militaristic and aggressive expansionistic ideals, ...
) and terrorists who had assassinated
Junnosuke Inoue
was a Japanese financier and statesman of the Taisho and Showa eras. He was the 9th and 11th Governor of the Bank of Japan (BOJ).
Biography
Inoue was born in Ōita Prefecture. A graduate of the Imperial University of Tokyo. In 1896, he entere ...
(ex–Minister of Finance), Baron
Dan Takuma
was a Japanese businessman who was Director-General of Mitsui, one of the leading Japanese zaibatsu (family conglomerates). He was a graduate of Massachusetts Institute of Technology and was married to the younger sister of statesman Kaneko Ken ...
(chairman of the board of directors of the
Mitsui
is one of the largest '' keiretsu'' in Japan and one of the largest corporate groups in the world.
The major companies of the group include Mitsui & Co. ( general trading company), Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, Nippon Paper Industri ...
zaibatsu
is a Japanese language, Japanese term referring to industrial and financial vertical integration, vertically integrated business conglomerate (company), conglomerates in the Empire of Japan, whose influence and size allowed control over signi ...
) and Prime Minister
Inukai Tsuyoshi
Inukai Tsuyoshi ( ja, 犬養 毅, 4 June 1855 – 15 May 1932) was a Japanese politician, cabinet minister, and Prime Minister of Japan from 1931 to his assassination in 1932. Inukai was Japan's second oldest prime minister while serving, as he ...
to support Konoe. In 1944, they attempted assassination of Prime Minister
Hideki Tōjō
Hideki Tojo (, ', December 30, 1884 – December 23, 1948) was a Japanese politician, general of the Imperial Japanese Army (IJA), and convicted war criminal who served as prime minister of Japan and president of the Imperial Rule Assistan ...
(one of the leaders of ''
Tōseiha
The ''Tōseiha'' or was a political faction in the Imperial Japanese Army active in the 1920s and 1930s. The ''Tōseiha'' was a grouping of moderate officers united primarily by their opposition to the radical ''Kōdōha'' (Imperial Way) faction ...
'' or Control Group which conflicted with ''Kōdōha'' in the
Japanese Army).
On 9 April 1937, the ''
Kamikaze
, officially , were a part of the Japanese Special Attack Units of military aviators who flew suicide attacks for the Empire of Japan against Allied naval vessels in the closing stages of the Pacific campaign of World War II, intending to d ...
'', a
Mitsubishi
The is a group of autonomous Japanese multinational companies in a variety of industries.
Founded by Yatarō Iwasaki in 1870, the Mitsubishi Group historically descended from the Mitsubishi zaibatsu, a unified company which existed from 1870 ...
aircraft sponsored by the Asahi Shimbun company and flown by Masaaki Iinuma, arrived in
London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
, to the astonishment of the
Western world
The Western world, also known as the West, primarily refers to the various nations and state (polity), states in the regions of Europe, North America, and Oceania. . It was the first Japanese-built aircraft to fly to Europe.
On 1 September 1940, the ''Osaka Asahi Shimbun'' and the ''Tokyo Asahi Shimbun'' unified their names into the ''Asahi Shimbun''.
On 1 January 1943, the publication of the ''Asahi Shimbun'' was stopped by the government after the newspaper published a critical essay contributed by
Seigō Nakano, who was also one of the leading members of the ''
Genyōsha'' and Ogata's best friend.
On 27 December 1943, , a son-in-law of Murayama Ryōhei and the President of ''Asahi'', removed Ogata from the Editor in Chief and relegated him to the Vice President to hold absolute power in ''Asahi''.
On 22 July 1944, Ogata, Vice President of ''Asahi'', became a
Minister without Portfolio
A minister without portfolio is either a government minister with no specific responsibilities or a minister who does not head a particular ministry. The sinecure is particularly common in countries ruled by coalition governments and a cabinet w ...
and the President of Cabinet Intelligence Agency in
Kuniaki Koiso
was a Japanese general in the Imperial Japanese Army, Governor-General of Korea and Prime Minister of Japan from 1944 to 1945.
After Japan's defeat in World War II, he was convicted of war crimes and sentenced to life imprisonment.
Early lif ...
's cabinet.
On 7 April 1945,
Hiroshi Shimomura, former Vice President of ''Asahi'', became the Minister without Portfolio and the President of Cabinet Intelligence Agency in
Kantarō Suzuki
Baron was a Japanese general and politician. He was an admiral in the Imperial Japanese Navy, member and final leader of the Imperial Rule Assistance Association and Prime Minister of Japan from 7 April to 17 August 1945.
Biography
Early li ...
's cabinet.
On 17 August 1945, Ogata became the Minister without Portfolio and the
Chief Cabinet Secretary
The is a member of the cabinet and is the leader and chief executive of the Cabinet Secretariat of Japan. The Chief Cabinet Secretary coordinates the policies of ministries and agencies in the executive branch, and also serves as the government ...
and the President of Cabinet Intelligence Agency in
Prince Higashikuni
General was a Japanese imperial prince, a career officer in the Imperial Japanese Army and the 30th Prime Minister of Japan from 17 August 1945 to 9 October 1945, a period of 54 days. An uncle-in-law of Emperor Hirohito twice over, Prince H ...
's cabinet.
After the war
On 5 November 1945, as a way of assuming responsibility for compromising the newspaper's principles during the war, the ''Asahi Shimbun's'' president and senior executives resigned en masse.
On 21 November 1946, the newspaper adopted the modern
kana
The term may refer to a number of syllabaries used to write Japanese phonological units, morae. Such syllabaries include (1) the original kana, or , which were Chinese characters (kanji) used phonetically to transcribe Japanese, the most pr ...
usage system (''
shin kanazukai'').
On 30 November 1949, the ''Asahi Shimbun'' started to publish the serialized cartoon strip
Sazae-san
is a Japanese yonkoma manga series written and illustrated by Machiko Hasegawa. It was first published in Hasegawa's local paper, the , on April 22, 1946. When the ''Asahi Shimbun'' wished to have Hasegawa draw the four-panel comic for thei ...
by Machiko Hasegawa. This was a landmark cartoon in Japan's postwar era.
Between 1954 and 1971, ''Asahi Shimbun'' published a glossy, large-format annual in English entitled ''This is Japan''.
Between April and May 1989, the paper reported that a coral reef near
Okinawa
is a prefecture of Japan. Okinawa Prefecture is the southernmost and westernmost prefecture of Japan, has a population of 1,457,162 (as of 2 February 2020) and a geographic area of 2,281 km2 (880 sq mi).
Naha is the capital and largest city ...
was defaced by "すさんだ心根の日本人" (a man with a Japanese dissolute mind). It later turned to be a report in which the reporter himself defaced the coral reef. This incident was called
:ja:朝日新聞珊瑚記事捏造事件 (the ''Asahi Shimbun coral article hoax incident''). , and the president resigned to take responsibility for it.
On 26 June 2007, Yoichi Funabashi was named the third editor-in-chief of ''Asahi Shimbun''.
Shōichi Ueno
was a Japanese newspaper publisher, philanthropist and co-owner of the ''Asahi Shimbun'', Japan's second largest daily newspaper in terms of circulation. Ueno served as the co-owner of ''Asahi Shimbun'' from 1997 until his death in February 201 ...
, the newspaper's co-owner since 1997, died on 29 February 2016.
While Shin-ichi Hakojima was CEO, a partnership with the ''
International Herald Tribune
The ''International Herald Tribune'' (''IHT'') was a daily English-language newspaper published in Paris, France for international English-speaking readers. It had the aim of becoming "the world's first global newspaper" and could fairly be said ...
'' led to the publication of an English-language newspaper, the ''International Herald Tribune/Asahi Shimbun''. It continued from April 2001 until February 2011.
It replaced ''Asahi's'' previous English-language daily, the ''Asahi Evening News''. In 2010, this partnership was dissolved due to unprofitability and the ''Asahi Shimbun'' now operates the ''Asia & Japan Watch'' online portal for English readers.
The ''Tribune'' (now known as ''
The International New York Times
''The New York Times International Edition'' is an English-language daily newspaper distributed internationally by the New York Times Company. It has been published in two separate periods, one from 1943 to 1967 and one from 2013 to the prese ...
'') cooperates with ''Asahi'' on ''Aera English'', a glossy magazine for English learners.
Political stance
The ''Asahi Shimbun'' is considered left-leaning and has been called "the intellectual flagship of Japan's political left," with a long tradition of reporting on big political scandals more often than its conservative counterparts.
[Gotcha]
- ''The Economist'' - 20 September 2014 The paper is considered a
newspaper of record
A newspaper of record is a major national newspaper with large circulation whose editorial and news-gathering functions are considered authoritative and independent; they are thus "newspapers of record by reputation" and include some of the o ...
in Japan.
The ''Asahi Shimbun'' is critical of right-wing
Japanese nationalism
is a form of nationalism that asserts the belief that the Japanese are a monolithic nation with a single immutable culture, and promotes the cultural unity of the Japanese. Over the last two centuries, it has encompassed a broad range of ideas a ...
and shows
progressive tendencies in
cultural
Culture () is an umbrella term which encompasses the social behavior, institutions, and Social norm, norms found in human Society, societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, Social norm, customs, capabilities, and habits of the ...
and
diplomatic issues, but has a
neoliberal
Neoliberalism (also neo-liberalism) is a term used to signify the late 20th century political reappearance of 19th-century ideas associated with free-market capitalism after it fell into decline following the Second World War. A prominent fa ...
tendency economically. The latter contrasts with ''
Mainichi Shimbun
The is one of the major newspapers in Japan, published by
In addition to the ''Mainichi Shimbun'', which is printed twice a day in several local editions, Mainichi also operates an English language news website called ''The Mainichi'' (previ ...
s relatively
Keynesian
Keynesian economics ( ; sometimes Keynesianism, named after British economist John Maynard Keynes) are the various macroeconomic theories and models of how aggregate demand (total spending in the economy) strongly influences economic output and ...
economic viewpoint. However, in general evaluation, the ''Asahi Shimbun'' seems to have a tone representing Japanese
social-liberals (left-liberals).
The ''Asahi'' has called for upholding of Japan's postwar
Constitution
A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of Legal entity, entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed.
When ...
and particularly
Article 9, which bars the use of war to resolve disputes. The newspaper has also opposed changes in interpretation of the anti-war provision, including one made in 2014 that allowed the
Japan Self-Defense Forces
The Japan Self-Defense Forces ( ja, 自衛隊, Jieitai; abbreviated JSDF), also informally known as the Japanese Armed Forces, are the unified ''de facto''Since Article 9 of the Japanese Constitution outlaws the formation of armed forces, the ...
to come to the aid of an ally under attack—the so-called right of collective self-defense.
While the ''Asahi'' retracted articles based on the discredited testimony of
Seiji Yoshida, its editorial position still recognizes the existence of the
comfort women
Comfort women or comfort girls were women and girls forced into sexual slavery by the Imperial Japanese Army in occupied countries and territories before and during World War II. The term "comfort women" is a translation of the Japanese '' ia ...
as Korean and other women from Japan's conquered territories 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 opposin ...
who were coerced into
prostitution
Prostitution is the business or practice of engaging in Sex work, sexual activity in exchange for payment. The definition of "sexual activity" varies, and is often defined as an activity requiring physical contact (e.g., sexual intercourse, n ...
to serve the Japanese military.
Controversies
Comfort women
In August 2014, the newspaper retracted the discredited testimonies of
Seiji Yoshida about the forcible recruitment of
comfort women
Comfort women or comfort girls were women and girls forced into sexual slavery by the Imperial Japanese Army in occupied countries and territories before and during World War II. The term "comfort women" is a translation of the Japanese '' ia ...
that were cited in several articles published by the ''Asahi'' and other major Japanese newspapers in the 1980s and 1990s. The paper drew ire from conservative media who, along with Abe's government, criticized it for damaging Japan's reputation abroad,
[Asahi Shimbun admits errors in past ‘comfort women’ stories](_blank)
- ''Japan Times''- 5 August 2014 some leveraging on this episode to imply that sexual slavery itself was a fabrication. The ''Asahi'' newspaper reaffirmed in its retracting article that "the fact that women were coerced into being sexual partners for Japanese soldiers cannot be erased" but also confirmed "No official documents were found that directly showed forcible taking away by the military on the Korean Peninsula and Taiwan, where the people living there were made 'subjects' of the Japanese Empire under Japanese colonial rule. Prostitution agents were prevalent due to the poverty and patriarchal family system. For that reason, even if the military was not directly involved, it is said it was possible to gather many women through such methods as work-related scams and human trafficking."
Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster
Following the March 2011
Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster
The was a nuclear accident in 2011 at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant in Ōkuma, Fukushima, Japan. The proximate cause of the disaster was the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami, which occurred on the afternoon of 11 March 2011 and ...
, the ''Asahi'' and other newspapers faced growing public criticism for adhering too closely to the government narrative during their reporting of the disaster.
In response, the ''Asahi'' strengthened its investigative reporting unit, called the ''Tokubetsu Hodobu,'' or Special Reports Section, to take a more independent approach to its coverage. The section won many awards, including the
Japan Newspaper Publishers and Editors Association The is an entirely independent and voluntary organization funded and operated by the mass media of Japan. The NSK was established on July 23, 1946. Its express purpose is to elevate ethical standards in reporting and protect and promote the media's ...
Award in 2012 and again in 2013.
In May 2014, the section published what it hoped would be its biggest scoop yet: a copy of the firsthand account of the disaster given by
Masao Yoshida, who was the manager of the Fukushima Daiichi power plant when the triple meltdown occurred; the testimony, recorded by government investigators, had been kept hidden from public view. In the testimony, Yoshida said that 90% of the plant's employees had left the plant at the height of the crisis despite his having given instructions for them to remain. He also testified that he believed his instructions had simply not reached the employees in the chaos of the disaster. However, controversy erupted over the ''Asahi'' story, and particularly the headline, which stated: “Workers Evacuated, Violating Plant Manager Orders."
The newspaper came under intense criticism for slandering the workers by implying that they had fled the plant due to cowardice, when many in Japan had come to see Yoshida and plant workers as heroes who had prevented a worse disaster at the plant.
Japanese journalist Ryusho Kadota, who have previously interviewed Yoshida and plant workers, was one of the first to criticize the ''Asahi'' for mischaracterizing the evacuation. The ''Asahi'' at first defended its story, demanding that Kadota's publisher apologize and issue a correction. However, in August, the
Yomiuri Shimbun
The (lit. ''Reading-selling Newspaper'' or ''Selling by Reading Newspaper'') is a Japanese newspaper published in Tokyo, Osaka, Fukuoka, and other major Japanese cities. It is one of the five major newspapers in Japan; the other four are t ...
,
Sankei Shimbun
The (short for ) is a daily newspaper in Japan published by the It has the seventh-highest circulation for regional newspapers in Japan. Among Japanese newspapers, the circulation is second only to ''Yomiuri Shimbun'', Seikyo Shimbun, ''Asah ...
,
Kyodo News
is a nonprofit cooperative news agency based in Minato, Tokyo. It was established in November 1945 and it distributes news to almost all newspapers, and radio and television networks in Japan. The newspapers using its news have about 50 millio ...
and
NHK
, also known as NHK, is a Japanese public broadcaster. NHK, which has always been known by this romanized initialism in Japanese, is a statutory corporation funded by viewers' payments of a television license fee.
NHK operates two terrestr ...
all acquired the same testimony, apparently from the government, and used it not to shed light on the disaster, but to attack the ''Asahi''. In mid-September, facing intense criticism from other media and the government of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe for its Fukushima coverage and also its retractions of the comfort women stories, the ''Asahi'' suddenly announced that the Yoshida story had been mistaken and retracted it. The president of the ''Asahi'', Tadakazu Kimura, a supporter of the investigative section, resigned to take responsibility.
The reporters and editors responsible for the story were punished, and the Special Reports Section reduced in size, with many of its members reassigned elsewhere in the paper. Two of the top reporters later quit to found a
non-profit journalism
Non-profit journalism (abbreviated as NPJ, also known as a not-for-profit journalism or think tank journalism) is the practice of journalism as a non-profit organization instead of a for-profit business. NPJ groups are able to operate and serve the ...
organization that is one of the first in Japan dedicated to investigative journalism, the Waseda Chronicle (name changed to Tokyo Investigative Newsroom Tansa in March 2021). The Asahi's investigative section was told to avoid coverage of the Fukushima disaster, and has largely faded from view.
Coral article fabrication
In the evening edition of April 20, 1989, an article described how the world's largest Azami
coral
Corals are marine invertebrates within the class Anthozoa of the phylum Cnidaria. They typically form compact colonies of many identical individual polyps. Coral species include the important reef builders that inhabit tropical oceans and sec ...
in a sea area designated as a natural environment conservation area in
Okinawa
is a prefecture of Japan. Okinawa Prefecture is the southernmost and westernmost prefecture of Japan, has a population of 1,457,162 (as of 2 February 2020) and a geographic area of 2,281 km2 (880 sq mi).
Naha is the capital and largest city ...
was damaged, with the initial "KY" scratched on the coral. Along with a color photograph of the scratched coral, the article lamented the decline in Japanese morals. Later, investigations by local divers who had doubts about the article proved that the ''Asahi'' photographer himself made the scratches to forge a newspaper article. Taking responsibility, the president (at that time) Toichiro Hitotsuyanagi was forced to resign. This was also known as the KY case.
Ritsu Ito interview report
On September 27, 1950, a solo interview with a
Japanese Communist Party
The is a left-wing to far-left political party in Japan. With approximately 270,000 members belonging to 18,000 branches, it is one of the largest non-governing communist parties in the world.
The party advocates the establishment of a democr ...
executive in hiding, Ritsu Ito, was posted. Later it was revealed that this was forged by the ''Asahi'' reporter in charge.
Asahi Shimbun Asia Network
The Asahi Shimbun Asia Network (AAN) is a think tank that aims to promote information exchange in Asia and provide opportunities for scholars, researchers and journalists to share their ideas on pressing themes in Asia. It was established in 1999.
Their work includes annual international symposia and the publication of research reports. In 2003, Gong Ro Myung was chosen as the new president of AAN.
Symposia have included:
* 2008 Human Mobility and Regional Integration in Asia: The Current Situation of Higher Education and Labor Market and Policy Response
Reports include such titles as:
*
*
*
Asahi Prize
Established in 1929, the Asahi Prize is a prize awarded by the newspaper, since 1992 by the Asahi Shimbun Foundation, for achievements in scholarship or the arts that has made a lasting contribution to Japanese culture or society.
Reproductions of past issues
Reproductions of past issues of the ''Asahi Shimbun'' are available in three major forms; as
CD-ROM
A CD-ROM (, compact disc read-only memory) is a type of read-only memory consisting of a pre-pressed optical compact disc that contains data. Computers can read—but not write or erase—CD-ROMs. Some CDs, called enhanced CDs, hold both comput ...
s, as
microfilm
Microforms are scaled-down reproductions of documents, typically either photographic film, films or paper, made for the purposes of transmission, storage, reading, and printing. Microform images are commonly reduced to about 4% or of the origin ...
, 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
Japan
Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
ese studies programs).
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
Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...
, 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
LexisNexis is a part of the RELX corporation that sells data analytics products and various databases that are accessed through online portals, including portals for computer-assisted legal research (CALR), newspaper search, and consumer inform ...
Academic.
Offices
* Osaka Head Office (registered headquarters): Nakanoshima Festival Tower East, 3-18, Nakanoshima Nichome,
Kita-ku, Osaka
is one of 24 wards of Osaka in Japan.
Incidents and accidents
2021 Osaka building fire
Notable locations
Kita-ku, particularly the Umeda area surrounding Osaka Station, is one of the main commercial centers of Osaka. Kita-ku is also a fina ...
* Tokyo Head Office: 3-2, Tsukiji Gochome,
Chūō, Tokyo
is a Special wards of Tokyo, special ward that forms part of the heart of Tokyo, Japan. The ward refers to itself in English as Chūō City. It was formed in 1947 as a merger of Kyōbashi, Tokyo, Kyobashi and Nihonbashi wards following Tokyo C ...
** Hokkaidō Office: 1-1, Kita-Nijo-nishi Itchome, Chūō-ku,
Sapporo
( ain, サッ・ポロ・ペッ, Satporopet, lit=Dry, Great River) is a city in Japan. It is the largest city north of Tokyo and the largest city on Hokkaido, the northernmost main island of the country. It ranks as the fifth most populous city ...
* Nagoya Head Office: 3-3, Sakae Itchome, Naka-ku,
Nagoya
is the largest city in the Chūbu region, the fourth-most populous city and third most populous urban area in Japan, with a population of 2.3million in 2020. Located on the Pacific coast in central Honshu, it is the capital and the most pop ...
* West Head Office:
Riverwalk Kitakyushu
Riverwalk may refer to:
Paths and trails Australia
* Brisbane Riverwalk
* Surfers Riverwalk, Gold Coast
Canada
* Jack and Jean Leslie RiverWalk, in Downtown Calgary, Alberta
Mexico
* Santa Lucía riverwalk in Monterrey, Nuevo León
Un ...
, 1-1, Muromachi Itchome, Kokura Kita-ku,
Kitakyushu
is a Cities of Japan, city located in Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan. As of June 1, 2019, Kitakyushu has an estimated population of 940,978, making it the second-largest city in both Fukuoka Prefecture and the island of Kyushu after the city of Fuku ...
** Fukuoka Office: 1-1, Hakata Ekimae Nichome, Hakata-ku,
Fukuoka
is the sixth-largest city in Japan, the second-largest port city after Yokohama, and the capital city of Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan. The city is built along the shores of Hakata Bay, and has been a center of international commerce since ancie ...
File:Osaka-Asahi-Shimbun-Bldg-01.jpg, Asahi Shimbun Building (2006)
File:Osaka Asahi Shimbun Bldgs 20120429-001.jpg, Asahi Shimbun Building and Osaka Asahi Building (2012)
File:Asahi Shimbun Tokyo Head Office.JPG, Asahi Shimbun Tokyo Head Office
Sports sponsorship
![Asahishimbunmodern](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ea/Asahishimbunmodern.png)
''Asahi Shimbun'' was the official supporter for several
Asian Football Confederation
The Asian Football Confederation is the governing body of association football, beach soccer, and futsal in some countries/territories in Asia and Oceania. It has 47 member countries most of which are located in Asia. Australia, formerly in ...
's competitions, most recently the
2019 AFC Asian Cup
The 2019 AFC Asian Cup was the 17th edition of the AFC Asian Cup, the quadrennial international men's football championship of Asia organised by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). It was held in the United Arab Emirates from 5 January to 1 ...
. They used to support both of AFC's club competitions; the
AFC Champions League
The AFC Champions League (abbreviated as ACL) is an annual continental club football competition organised by the Asian Football Confederation, and contested by Asia's top-division football clubs. It is the most prestigious club competition ...
and
AFC Cup
The AFC Cup is an annual continental club football competition organised by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). Under its current rules, the competition is played primarily between clubs from nations that did not receive direct qualifying s ...
until 2018 season.
Group companies
*
Nikkan Sports
is the first-launched Japanese daily sports newspaper founded in 1946.
It has a circulation of 1,661,000, and is an affiliate newspaper of the ''Asahi Shimbun''.
Companies and regions
;Nikkan Sports News (Tokyo)
:Tokyo HQ: 5-10, Tsukiji Sanc ...
* ''
Kanagawa Shimbun
The ' is a newspaper in Yokohama
is the second-largest city in Japan by population and the most populous municipality of Japan. It is the capital city and the most populous city in Kanagawa Prefecture, with a 2020 population of 3.8 millio ...
''
*
International Herald Tribune/The Asahi Shimbun (Herald-Asahi, from the
Japanese Wikipedia
The is the Japanese-language edition of Wikipedia, a free, open-source online encyclopedia. Started on 11 May 2001, the edition attained the 200,000 article mark in April 2006 and the 500,000 article mark in June 2008. As of , it has over ar ...
)
*
Asahi Shimbun Publications (formerly Asahi Sonorama)
*
TV Asahi Holdings (cross-shareholder; largest single stockholder in the newspaper)
*
Asahi Broadcasting Corporation
is a certified broadcasting holding company headquartered in Osaka, Japan. Until March 31, 2018, it was a unified radio and television broadcaster serving in the Kansai region.
On April 1, 2018, its radio and television broadcasting divisions ...
(cross-shareholder)
*
All-Nippon News Network
, or ANN, is a Japanese commercial television network run by TV Asahi Corporation. The network's responsibility includes the syndication of national television news bulletins to its regional affiliates, and news exchange between the stations. ...
*
TV Asahi Channel (pay TV channels via CS)
* Asahi Shimbun Foundation
*
FM OSAKA
is an FM radio station in Osaka, Japan. The station is an affiliate of Japan FM Network (JFN).
FM Osaka started broadcasting on April 1, 1970. It was the second commercial FM radio station to launch in Japan after FM Aichi. During its early ...
See also
*
Media of Japan
The mass media in Japan include numerous television and radio networks as well as newspapers and magazines in Japan. For the most part, television networks were established based on capital investments by existing radio networks. Variety shows ...
*
Asahi characters
are forms of Kanji particular to the ''Asahi Shimbun'' newspaper. Unlike Simplified Chinese, where simplifications apply to all characters, the general custom in Japanese publications is to print Jōyō/Jinmeiyō Kanji in simplified Shinjitai fo ...
* ''
Kuri-chan
is a yonkoma manga series by Susumu Nemoto which ran from October 1, 1951, to March 31, 1965, in the Asahi Shimbun evening edition. Nemoto modeled the main character, Kuri-chan, after his oldest son who was born in 1948. The name of the main c ...
'', a
yonkoma
, a comic strip format, generally consists of gag comic strips within four panels of equal size ordered from top to bottom. They also sometimes run right-to-left horizontally or use a hybrid 2×2 style, depending on the layout requirements of ...
manga which ran in the newspaper from 1951 to 1965
*
Tensei Jingo
Tensei Jingo (天声人語, literally, ''the voice of heaven is the voice of people'') is the title of a column which appears on the front page of the ''Asahi Shimbun'', a Japanese newspaper. It is a translation of the Latin phrase as ''Vox Populi ...
References
Further reading
* Merrill, John C. and Harold A. Fisher. ''The world's great dailies: profiles of fifty newspapers'' (1980) pp. 59–67
* ''Asahi Shimbun Shashi'' (Tokyo and Osaka: Asahi Shimbun Sha, 1990–1995. Official history of ''Asahi'')
* "Asahi Shimbun" in ''Kodansha Encyclopedia of Japan'' (Tokyo and New York:
Kodansha
is a Japanese privately-held publishing company headquartered in Bunkyō, Tokyo. Kodansha is the largest Japanese publishing company, and it produces the manga magazines ''Nakayoshi'', ''Afternoon'', ''Evening'', ''Weekly Shōnen Magazine'' an ...
, 1983).
*
External links
*
''Asahi Shimbun'' Asia & Japan Watch
* Wiki collection of bibliographic works on ''Asahi Shimbun''
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Asahi Shimbun
1879 establishments in Japan
Centre-left newspapers
Companies based in Osaka
Companies based in Osaka Prefecture
Daily newspapers published in Japan
English-language newspapers published in Japan
Liberal media in Japan
Mass media companies based in Tokyo
Mass media in Osaka
Modernist architecture in Japan
Newspapers established in 1879
Social liberalism
Tadao Ando buildings