, often shortened to simply ''Asahi Geinō'' or , is a
shūkanshi founded by Hirotomo Takei and published by
Tokuma Shoten
is a publisher in Japan, headquartered in Shinagawa, Tokyo. The company was established in 1954 by Yasuyoshi Tokuma in Minato, Tokyo. The company’s product portfolio includes music publishing, video game publishing, movies, anime, magazines, ...
in
Japan. It was first published under the title in January 1946, though the title and size were changed to the current one in October 1956.
The longest-running manga in the world by a single author, ''
Sennin Buraku
is a manga series by Kō Kojima which ran in the adult magazine ''Weekly Asahi Geinō'', published by Tokuma Shoten in Japan. It is the longest running comic with only one artist, being published weekly since October 1956, and the longest-r ...
'' by
Kō Kojima, was published in the first issue with the new title, and ran from 1956 to 2014.
The magazine tends to focus on
sensationalized stories,
celebrity gossip, stories about
yakuza
, also known as , are members of transnational organized crime syndicates originating in Japan. The Japanese police and media, by request of the police, call them , while the ''yakuza'' call themselves . The English equivalent for the ter ...
, articles with risque or
erotic content or topics,
and
scandal
A scandal can be broadly defined as the strong social reactions of outrage, anger, or surprise, when accusations or rumours circulate or appear for some reason, regarding a person or persons who are perceived to have transgressed in some way. Th ...
s. About 90% of the readership are married, male
salarymen
In Japan, a is a salaried worker. In Japanese popular culture, this is embodied by a white-collar worker who shows overriding loyalty and commitment to the corporation where he works.
Salarymen are expected to work long hours, to put in addit ...
. ''Asahi Geinō'' frequently has articles related to
sex
Sex is the trait that determines whether a sexually reproducing animal or plant produces male or female gametes. Male plants and animals produce smaller mobile gametes (spermatozoa, sperm, pollen), while females produce larger ones ( ova, of ...
,
and participates in campaigns to stem the
AIDS epidemic.
Translations of and commentaries on articles from ''Asahi Geinō'' were common in the
English language
English is a West Germanic language of the Indo-European language family, with its earliest forms spoken by the inhabitants of early medieval England. It is named after the Angles, one of the ancient Germanic peoples that migrated to the ...
newspaper ''
Mainichi Daily News
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 now-discontinued column ''WaiWai''.
Other articles in ''Asahi Geinō'' have covered include an apparent rise in 20-something
virgin
Virginity is the state of a person who has never engaged in sexual intercourse. The term ''virgin'' originally only referred to sexually inexperienced women, but has evolved to encompass a range of definitions, as found in traditional, modern ...
s,
the possibility of
breast milk being a cure for
obesity
Obesity is a medical condition, sometimes considered a disease, in which excess body fat has accumulated to such an extent that it may negatively affect health. People are classified as obese when their body mass index (BMI)—a person's ...
,
and accusations of
groping
In a sexual context, groping is the act of intentionally touching another person in a sexual manner without their consent. The term generally has a negative connotation in many societies, and the activity may be considered sexual assault or o ...
while on a train (and advice on how to avoid being falsely accused).
''Weekly Asahi Geinō'' is not related to the similarly titled ''
Weekly Asahi'' (which is owned by the also-unrelated ''
Asahi Shimbun
is one of the four largest newspapers in Japan. Founded in 1879, it is also one of the oldest newspapers in Japan and Asia, and is considered a newspaper of record for Japan. Its circulation, which was 4.57 million for its morning edition a ...
'').
Criticism
The ''Asahi Geino'' has been criticized for attacking Japan's
sex education
Sex education, also known as sexual education, sexuality education or sex ed, is the instruction of issues relating to human sexuality, including emotional relations and responsibilities, human sexual anatomy, sexual activity, sexual reproduc ...
while at the same time publishing
nude photographs and sex-related articles and stories.
References
External links
Weekly Asahi Geinō (official site)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Asahi Geino
1946 establishments in Japan
Celebrity magazines
Magazines established in 1946
Magazines published in Tokyo
Men's magazines published in Japan
Weekly magazines published in Japan
Tokuma Shoten magazines