''The Japan Times'' is Japan's largest and oldest English-language daily newspaper. It is published by , a subsidiary of News2u Holdings, Inc.. It is headquartered in the in
Kioicho,
.
History
![The-Japan-Times-Newspaper-First-Issue-March-22-1897](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/20/The-Japan-Times-Newspaper-First-Issue-March-22-1897.png)
''The Japan Times'' was launched by Motosada Zumoto on 22 March 1897, with the goal of giving Japanese people an opportunity to read and discuss news and current events in
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
to help Japan to participate in the international community.
The newspaper was independent of government control, but from 1931 onward, the paper's editors experienced mounting pressure from the
Japanese government
The Government of Japan consists of legislative, executive and judiciary branches and is based on popular sovereignty. The Government runs under the framework established by the Constitution of Japan, adopted in 1947. It is a unitary state, c ...
to submit to its policies. In 1933, the
Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs
The is an executive department of the Government of Japan, and is responsible for the country's foreign policy and international relations.
The ministry was established by the second term of the third article of the National Government Organi ...
appointed
Hitoshi Ashida
was a Japanese politician who served as Prime Minister of Japan in 1948. He was a prominent figure in the immediate postwar political landscape, but was forced to resign his leadership responsibilities after a corruption scandal (Shōwa Denkō Jik ...
, former ministry official, as chief editor.
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 ...
, the newspaper served as an outlet for
Imperial Japanese
The also known as the Japanese Empire or Imperial Japan, was a historical nation-state and great power that existed from the Meiji Restoration in 1868 until the enactment of the post-World War II 1947 constitution and subsequent forma ...
government communication and editorial opinion.
It was successively renamed ''The Japan Times and Mail'' (1918–1940) following its merger with ''The Japan Mail'', ''The Japan Times and Advertiser'' (1940–1943) following its merger with ''The Japan Advertiser'', and ''Nippon Times'' (1943–1956), before reverting to the ''Japan Times'' title in 1956. The temporary change to ''Nippon Times'' occurred during the ban on English language sentiment during World War II-era Japan.
Shintaro Fukushima (
1907
Events
January
* January 14 – 1907 Kingston earthquake: A 6.5 Mw earthquake in Kingston, Jamaica, kills between 800 and 1,000.
February
* February 11 – The French warship ''Jean Bart'' sinks off the coast of Morocco. ...
–
1987
File:1987 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The MS Herald of Free Enterprise capsizes after leaving the Port of Zeebrugge in Belgium, killing 193; Northwest Airlines Flight 255 crashes after takeoff from Detroit Metropolitan Airport, k ...
) became president of ''The Japan Times'' in 1956. He sold some of the company's shares to Toshiaki Ogasawara (小笠原 敏晶 ''Ogasawara Toshiaki''), who was chairman of Nifco, a manufacturer of automotive fasteners. Fukushima renounced management rights in 1983, after which Nifco acquired control of ''The Japan Times'' and brought about staff changes and alterations to the company's traditions established in 1897.
Ogasawara served as the chairman and publisher of ''The Japan Times'' until 2016, when his daughter Yukiko Ogasawara (小笠原 有輝子 ''Ogasawara Yukiko'') succeeded him as chairman of the company. She had previously served as the company's president from 2006 to 2012, when she was replaced by career ''Japan Times'' staffer Takeharu Tsutsumi.
Nifco sold ''The Japan Times'' to
PR firm News2u Holdings, Inc. on 30 June 2017.
Content
''The Japan Times'' publishes ''The Japan Times'', ''The Japan Times On Sunday'',
The Japan Times Alpha' (a bilingual weekly), books in English and Japanese. Staff at ''The Japan Times'' are represented by two unions, one of which is
Tozen
Zenkoku Ippan Tokyo General Union (全国一般東京ゼネラルユニオン), or Tozen Union (東ゼン労組), is a Japanese labour union. It was founded on April 25, 2010, by Louis Carlet, Tony Dolan, and David Ashton. It is a "godo roso" ge ...
.
Print
The Japan Times, Ltd. publishes three periodicals: ''The Japan Times'', an English-language daily
broadsheet
A broadsheet is the largest newspaper format and is characterized by long Vertical and horizontal, vertical pages, typically of . Other common newspaper formats include the smaller Berliner (format), Berliner and Tabloid (newspaper format), ta ...
; ''The Japan Times Weekly'', an English-language
weekly in
tabloid
Tabloid may refer to:
* Tabloid journalism, a type of journalism
* Tabloid (newspaper format), a newspaper with compact page size
** Chinese tabloid
* Tabloid (paper size), a North American paper size
* Sopwith Tabloid, a biplane aircraft
* ''Ta ...
form; and ''Shukan ST'', also a weekly in tabloid form, targeted at Japanese readers learning the English language. Since 16 October 2013, ''The Japan Times'' has been printed and sold along with ''
The New York Times International Edition
''The New York Times International Edition'' is an English-language Newspaper#Daily, 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 ...
''.
Web
Printed stories from ''The Japan Times'' are archived online. The newspaper has a readers' forum and, since 2013, the website offers a section for readers' comments below articles. This came about during a redesign and redevelopment of the newspaper, using
Responsive Web Design techniques so the site is optimised for all digital devices. ''The Japan Times'' has a social media presence on
Twitter
Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...
, and
Facebook
Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin M ...
since 2007.
Controversy
After being acquired by News2u, ''The Japan Times'' changed its editorial stance and contributor lineup as part of efforts to reduce criticism of the newspaper as an "anti-Japanese" outlet.
In November 2018, it was announced in an editor's note that subsequent articles would use the term "wartime laborers" rather than "forced labor", and "
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 ...
" would be referred to as "women who worked in wartime brothels, including those who did so against their will, to provide sex to Japanese soldiers", instead of the previously used "women who were forced to provide sex for Japanese troops before and during World War II."
The change drew immediate criticism from readers and employees, with particular concerns expressed over the paper's apparent alignment with the political positions of Prime Minister
Shinzō Abe.
In response to these criticisms, The Japan Times wrote in an article on 7 December 2018, "We must admit that the editorial note undermined the relationships of trust we have built with our readers, reporters and staff. I would like to apologize for the inconvenience," and denied criticism that it was in line with the intentions of the administration.
Contributors
*
Mark Brazil
Dr Mark Andrew Brazil (born 8 June 1955) is a conservationist, author and journalist, particularly noted for his work on east Asian birds.
Brazil was born in Worcestershire, England, and studied at Keele University, Staffordshire where he gradu ...
, Wild Watch nature columnist (1982–2015)
Mark Brazil - The Japan Times
''Japan Times
''The Japan Times'' is Japan's largest and oldest English-language daily newspaper. It is published by , a subsidiary of News2u Holdings, Inc.. It is headquartered in the in Kioicho, Chiyoda, Tokyo.
History
''The Japan Times'' was launched by ...
'' Retrieved 25 March 2017
* Monty DiPietro, art critic
* John Gauntner, Nihonshu columnist
* John Gunning, sumo columnist
* Don Maloney
* Fume Miyatake, Women in Business columnist
* Jean Pearce, community columnist
* Ezra Pound
Ezra Weston Loomis Pound (30 October 1885 – 1 November 1972) was an expatriate American poet and critic, a major figure in the early modernist poetry movement, and a Fascism, fascist collaborator in Italy during World War II. His works ...
, Italian correspondent
* Dreux Richard, African community, investigative
* Donald Richie, book, film critic
* Elyse Rogers, Women in Business columnist
* Mark Schilling, film critic
* Edward Seidensticker
* Fred Varcoe, sports editor
* Robert Yellin
Robert Yellin is an American Japanese ceramics specialist who has regularly written for several publications. Yellin currently resides in Japan where he has been living since 1984. He owns and runs Robert Yellin Yakimono Gallery in Kyoto in additio ...
Ceramic Scene columnist
See also
* '' Asahi Shimbun''
* ''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 ...
''
* ''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 ...
''
References
External links
''The Japan Times'' Online
{{DEFAULTSORT:Japan Times
1897 establishments in Japan
Publications established in 1897
Daily newspapers published in Japan
English-language newspapers published in Japan
Newspapers published in Tokyo