The Asahi Shimbun facts for kids
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First issue on 25 January 1879
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| Type | Daily newspaper Company type: Private |
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| Format | Blanket (54.6 cm x 40.65 cm) |
| Owner(s) | Repurchased shares (25%) Murayama family (21.02%; 10% through the KOSETSU Museum of Art) Ueno family (total 14.22% by Shōichi Ueno's death in 2016) TV Asahi (11.88%) Toppan (7.31%) Asahi Broadcasting Group Holdcorp (2.31%) |
| Founder(s) | Murayama Ryōhei Ueno Riichi |
| Founded | 25 January 1879 |
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| Headquarters | Nakanoshima, Kita-ku, Osaka, Japan |
| Country | Japan |
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The Asahi Shimbun (朝日新聞, IPA: [asaçi ɕiꜜmbɯɴ], lit. morning sun newspaper, English: Asahi News) is one of the biggest newspapers in Japan. It started in 1879, making it one of the oldest newspapers in Japan and Asia. Many people consider it a very important newspaper for Japan, like a "newspaper of record" that keeps track of major events. As of July 2021, its morning edition sold about 4.57 million copies, and its evening edition sold about 1.33 million copies. This makes it the second largest newspaper in the world by print copies, after the Yomiuri Shimbun.
The company that publishes this newspaper is called The Asahi Shimbun Company. It is a large media group with its main office in Osaka. It is a family-owned business, meaning the founding families, Murayama and Ueno, still own and control it.
Even though it's a major newspaper, a report in 2018 showed that public trust in the Asahi Shimbun was lower compared to other big Japanese newspapers. However, trust in all major newspapers in Japan has been going down.
The Asahi Shimbun is one of the five largest newspapers in Japan. The others are the Yomiuri Shimbun, the Mainichi Shimbun, Nihon Keizai Shimbun, and Chunichi Shimbun.
Contents
History of Asahi Shimbun
How the Newspaper Started
The Asahi Shimbun is one of Japan's oldest and largest daily newspapers. It began in Osaka on January 25, 1879. It was a small, four-page paper with pictures, costing just one sen (a very small amount of money). About 3,000 copies were sold each day.
The company had three main leaders: Kimura Noboru (president), Murayama Ryōhei (owner), and Tsuda Tei (managing editor). Their first office was in Osaka. On September 13 of the same year, Asahi printed its first editorial, which is an article that shares the newspaper's opinion.
In 1881, the Asahi changed to an all-news format, focusing only on news stories. Ueno Riichi joined as a co-owner. With support from the government and a big company called Mitsui, Asahi grew stronger. Under the leadership of Ueno and Murayama, the newspaper became famous across Japan. On July 10, 1888, the Tokyo Asahi Shimbun was first published from an office in Tokyo.
A famous writer named Natsume Sōseki joined the Tokyo Asahi Shimbun in 1907. He was 41 years old and had already written popular novels like I Am a Cat and Botchan.
In 1908, the Osaka Asahi Shimbun and Tokyo Asahi Shimbun joined together to form one company called Asahi Shimbun Gōshi Kaisha.
Challenges and Changes
In 1918, the Asahi newspaper was critical of the government during the Rice Riots. Because of this, the government stopped one of its articles from being published. This led to the newspaper becoming less open about its liberal views, and many reporters quit in protest.
The newspaper's liberal ideas also caused problems. In 1936, during an event called the February 26 Incident, the newspaper's office was attacked. It also faced attacks from ultranationalist groups many times throughout its history.
During the late 1930s and World War II, Asahi supported the wartime government of Prime Minister Fumimaro Konoe. Some of its influential writers were part of a political group that advised Konoe.
In 1937, an airplane called the Kamikaze, sponsored by the Asahi Shimbun company, flew to London. This was a big achievement because it was the first Japanese-built aircraft to fly to Europe.
On September 1, 1940, the Osaka Asahi Shimbun and the Tokyo Asahi Shimbun officially became one newspaper, simply called the Asahi Shimbun.
In 1943, the government stopped the Asahi Shimbun from publishing for a short time. This happened after the newspaper printed an essay that criticized the government.
After World War II
After World War II ended, on November 5, 1945, the president and other top leaders of the Asahi Shimbun resigned. They did this to take responsibility for how the newspaper's principles were affected during the war.
In 1946, the newspaper started using a new, simpler way of writing Japanese characters called shin kanazukai.
In 1949, the Asahi Shimbun began publishing the popular cartoon strip Sazae-san. This cartoon became a very important part of Japan's culture after the war.
From 1954 to 1971, Asahi Shimbun published an English magazine called This is Japan.
In 1989, the newspaper reported that a coral reef near Okinawa was damaged by a Japanese person. However, it was later found that the reporter himself had damaged the coral reef. This event was called the Asahi Shimbun coral article hoax incident, and the president of the newspaper resigned because of it.
From 2001 to 2011, Asahi Shimbun worked with the International Herald Tribune to publish an English newspaper called the International Herald Tribune/Asahi Shimbun. This newspaper replaced Asahi's older English paper, the Asahi Evening News. The partnership ended because it wasn't making enough money. Now, Asahi Shimbun has an online news site for English readers called Asia & Japan Watch.
Political Views of Asahi Shimbun
The Asahi Shimbun is generally seen as a newspaper with centre-left or social-liberal views. It is known for often reporting on big political scandals.
The Asahi Shimbun does not support Japanese nationalism (extreme pride in one's country) and tends to have progressive ideas on cultural and international topics. However, it has some neoliberal economic views. Overall, it is considered to represent Japanese social-liberals.
The Asahi newspaper strongly supports Japan's postwar Constitution, especially Article 9. This article says that Japan cannot use war to solve disagreements. The newspaper has also been against changing how this anti-war rule is understood, including a change in 2014 that allowed Japan's military (the Japan Self-Defense Forces) to help an ally if they were attacked.
Asahi Shimbun Asia Network
The Asahi Shimbun Asia Network (AAN) is a group that works to share information in Asia. It helps scholars, researchers, and journalists talk about important topics in Asia. It started in 1999. They hold international meetings and publish research reports.
Asahi Prize
The Asahi Prize is an award given by the newspaper since 1929. It honors people who have made important contributions to Japanese culture or society through their studies or art. Since 1992, the Asahi Shimbun Foundation has given out this prize.
Old Newspaper Copies
You can find old copies of the Asahi Shimbun in a few ways: on CD-ROMs, on microfilm, and in special "reduced-sized print editions" called shukusatsuban. Shukusatsuban is a method that Asahi Shimbun made popular in the 1930s. It allows many pages of a daily newspaper to be printed on one smaller page, making it easier to store. These are often used by libraries and archives and are usually organized by month.
Many major universities around the world have these old copies, especially those with good Japanese studies programs. There is also a CD-ROM database with headlines from 1945–1999. Some very detailed databases are available at specific libraries, like Harvard University, which even include advertisements.
Offices Around Japan
The Asahi Shimbun has several offices across Japan:
- Osaka Head Office (main registered office): Nakanoshima Festival Tower East, Osaka
- Tokyo Head Office: Tsukiji, Chūō, Tokyo
- Hokkaidō Office: Sapporo
- Nagoya Head Office: Sakae, Nagoya
- West Head Office: Riverwalk Kitakyushu, Kitakyushu
- Fukuoka Office: Hakata, Fukuoka
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Asahi Shimbun Building (2006)
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Asahi Shimbun Building and Osaka Asahi Building (2012)
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Asahi Shimbun Tokyo Head Office
Sports Sponsorships
The Asahi Shimbun has supported many sports events. It was an official supporter for several football competitions organized by the Asian Football Confederation, including the 2019 AFC Asian Cup. They also used to support the AFC's club competitions, the AFC Champions League and AFC Cup, until 2018. The newspaper was also an official sponsor of the 2002 FIFA World Cup.
Related Companies
The Asahi Shimbun Group includes several other companies:
- Nikkan Sports (another newspaper)
- Kanagawa Shimbun (a local newspaper)
- International Herald Tribune/The Asahi Shimbun (a past joint newspaper)
- Asahi Shimbun Publications (a publishing company)
- TV Asahi Holdings (a TV broadcasting company, and a major shareholder in the newspaper)
- Asahi Broadcasting Corporation (another broadcasting company)
- All-Nippon News Network (a TV news network)
- TV Asahi Channel (pay TV channels)
- Asahi Shimbun Foundation (a foundation that gives out awards)
- FM OSAKA (a radio station)
See also
In Spanish: Asahi Shimbun para niños
