The Japan Times

The Japan Times is Japan's largest and oldest English-language daily newspaper.[1][2] It is published by The Japan Times, Ltd. (株式会社ジャパンタイムズ, Kabushiki gaisha Japan Taimuzu), a subsidiary of News2u Holdings, Inc.. It is headquartered in the Kioicho Building (紀尾井町ビル, Kioicho Biru) in Kioicho, Chiyoda, Tokyo.[3][4]

The Japan Times
Sample page 1 of The Japan Times
TypeDaily newspaper
FormatBroadsheet
Owner(s)News2u Holdings, Inc.
PresidentTakeharu Tsutsumi
Editor-in-chiefHiroyasu Mizuno
Staff writersApproximately 130
Founded1897
LanguageEnglish
HeadquartersTokyo, Japan
Circulation44,000
ISSN0447-5763
OCLC number21225620
Websitewww.japantimes.co.jp

History

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 to help Japan to participate in the international community.[5] The newspaper was independent of government control, but from 1931 onward, the paper's editors experienced mounting pressure from the Japanese government to submit to its policies. In 1933, the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs appointed Hitoshi Ashida, former ministry official, as chief editor.[6]

During World War II, the newspaper served as an outlet for Imperial Japanese government propaganda and editorial opinion. The newspaper's circulation at that time was about 825,000.[5] 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.[7] The temporary change to Nippon Times occurred during the ban on English language sentiment during World War II-era Japan.[8]

Shintaro Fukushima (1907–1987) 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.[9] Ogasawara served as the chairman and publisher of The Japan Times until 2016,[10] 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.[3] Nifco sold The Japan Times to PR firm News2u Holdings, Inc. on 30 June 2017.[11]

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.[12] In November 2018, it was announced in an editor's note that subsequent articles would use the term "forced labor" rather than "wartime laborers", and the term "comfort women" would be replaced with "women who worked in wartime brothels, including those who did so against their will, to provide sex to Japanese soldiers".[13] 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.[14]

Content

Print

The Japan Times, Ltd. publishes three periodicals: The Japan Times, an English-language daily broadsheet;[15] The Japan Times Weekly, an English-language weekly in tabloid form;[16] and Shukan ST, also a weekly in tabloid form, targeted at Japanese readers learning the English language.

The content of the daily periodical, The Japan Times, includes:

  1. News: domestic and world news; domestic and overseas business news.
  2. Opinion: editorials, op-eds, and letters to the editor.
  3. Features: life and style, community, media, technology, food and drink, travel, environment, education, cartoons.
  4. Entertainment: film, art, music, stage, books, event previews, festival listing.
  5. Sports: domestic and overseas sports news, including coverage of baseball, soccer, basketball, sumo, figure skating.

Since 16 October 2013, The Japan Times has been printed and sold along with The New York Times International Edition.[17]

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 (2007), Facebook (2007), and Google+ (2011).

Former contributors
  • Monty DiPietro, art critic
  • John Gauntner, Nihonshu columnist
  • Don Maloney
  • Dreux Richard, African community, investigative
  • Donald Richie, book, film critic
  • Edward Seidensticker
  • Robert Yellin Ceramic Scene columnist
  • Jean Pearce, Community columnist
  • Fred Varcoe, Sports editor
  • Elyse Rogers and Fume Miyatake, Women in Business Columnists
  • Mark Brazil, "Wild Watch" nature columnist (1982–2015)[18]

Employee unions

Staff at The Japan Times are represented by two unions, one of which is Tozen.[19]

Production
  • Capital: ¥100,000,000
  • Business: Publishes The Japan Times, The Japan Times On Sunday, The Japan Times Alpha (a bilingual weekly), books in English and Japanese

Books
  • Genki: an Integrated Course in Elementary Japanese
  • A Dictionary of Basic Japanese Grammar[20]

See also

References
  1. Yoshihara, Nancy (25 January 1990). "A Growing Japan Export: News : Media: The English-language Japan Times is expanding and revamping its overseas edition". Los Angeles Times.
  2. "Media: The Japan Times". World Eye Reports. Archived from the original on 6 October 2014. Retrieved 29 October 2015.
  3. "ABOUT US: Company Outline". The Japan Times. Retrieved 20 December 2018. Head Office: 14F Kioicho Bldg., 3-12 Kioicho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 102-0094
  4. "ACCESS (map)". The Japan Times. Retrieved 20 December 2018.
  5. Kamiya, Setsuko (13 August 2011). "Japan Times not just wartime mouthpiece". The Japan Times.
  6. O'Connor, Peter (4 April 2007). "The Japan Times at War Time: Mouth piece or Moderator?". fccj.or.jp. Foreign Correspondents' Club of Japan. Archived from the original on 16 July 2011.
  7. "New Resource Available: Japan Times Archives (1897-2014) | Yale University Library". web.library.yale.edu. Retrieved 5 February 2019.
  8. Ishii, Hayato (24 February 2015). "Wartime naval cadet recalls the twisted history of English in Japan". The Japan Times. Kyodo News. Archived from the original on 26 February 2015. Retrieved 5 April 2015.
  9. "小野寺優・ニフコ社長--自動車用にとどまらず、工業用ファスナーを軸として切り口増やしたい" [Yu Onodera, President Nifco--I want to increase the number of cuts by using industrial fasteners as an axis, not only for automobiles]. toyokeizai.net. Toyo Keizai. 26 April 2010.
  10. "Japan Times honorary chairman and former publisher Toshiaki Ogasawara dies at 85". Japan Times Online. 5 December 2016.
  11. Iwamoto, Kentaro (12 June 2017). "The Japan Times sold to Tokyo-based PR company". Nikkei Asian Review. Retrieved 26 October 2018.
  12. Saito, Mari; Miyazaki, Ami (24 January 2019). "'Fear' and 'favor' chill newsroom at storied Japanese paper". Reuters. Retrieved 24 January 2019.
  13. "South Korea's top court orders Mitsubishi Heavy to pay compensation for wartime labor". The Japan Times. 29 November 2018. Retrieved 30 November 2018.
  14. McCurry, Justin (30 November 2018). "'Comfort women': anger as Japan paper alters description of WWII terms". The Guardian. Retrieved 30 November 2018.
  15. "Newspaper Sizes". Paper-sizes.com. Retrieved 2 December 2014.
  16. "English daily". The Japan Times Online. The Japan Times. Retrieved 16 October 2011."English weekly". The Japan Times Online. The Japan Times. Retrieved 16 October 2011.
  17. ""The Japan Times / International New York Times" to launch tomorrow; commemorative event scheduled for Oct.23". The Japan Times (press release). 15 October 2013.
  18. Mark Brazil - The Japan Times Japan Times Retrieved 25 March 2017
  19. "Tozen - The Japan Times". Tozen. 7 August 2010. Retrieved 7 August 2010.
  20. Koichi (10 November 2014). "A Dictionary of Japanese Grammar". tofugu.com.
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