The Asahi Shimbun

Lore & Background

Its three founding officers were Kimura Noboru (company president), Murayama Ryōhei (owner), and Tsuda Tei (managing editor). During the 1930s and 1940s, the Asahi ardently supported Prime Minister Fumimaro Konoe's wartime government and criticized capitalism under editor-in-chief Taketora Ogata, who was a leading member of the ultranationalist Genyōsha. Influential editorial writers included Shintarō Ryū, Hiroo Sassa, and Hotsumi Ozaki, an informant for spy Richard Sorge. Publication was stopped by the government on 1 January 1943 after a critical essay by Seigō Nakano. In 1989, the paper reported a coral reef defacement near Okinawa that turned out to be a hoax by its own reporter, leading to the president's resignation.

Reader's Guide

The Asahi Shimbun holds a significant place in Japanese media history as one of the country's oldest and largest national daily newspapers, and as a newspaper of record. Its long history reflects key developments in modern Japan, from its founding in the Meiji era through its involvement in wartime politics and its postwar reckoning. The paper is considered left-leaning and has been called 'the intellectual flagship of Japan's political left,' with a tradition of reporting on political scandals. However, public trust in the Asahi Shimbun was the lowest among Japan's major dailies according to the Reuters Institute Digital Report 2018, with confidence declining in all major newspapers. The Asahi Shimbun Company remains a privately held family business controlled by the founding Murayama and Ueno families. Its circulation, second only to the Yomiuri Shimbun, makes it the second largest newspaper in the world by print circulation, though its digital size trails many global newspapers including The New York Times. The paper's legacy includes both its role as a critical voice and its controversial wartime support for the government, as well as incidents like the 1989 coral reef hoax that damaged its credibility.

Did You Know?

• On 9 April 1937, a Mitsubishi aircraft sponsored by the Asahi Shimbun and flown by Masaaki Iinuma arrived in London, the first Japanese-built aircraft to fly to Europe.
• In 1989, the Asahi Shimbun reported a coral reef defacement near Okinawa that turned out to be a hoax by its own reporter, leading to the president's resignation.