The Japan Times

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The Japan Times
The Japan Times (2021-01-21).svg
The-Japan-Times-sample-p1.jpg
Sample page 1 of The Japan Times
TypeDaily newspaper
FormatBroadsheet
Owner(s)News2u Holdings, Inc.
PresidentTakeharu Tsutsumi
Editor-in-chiefHiroyasu Mizuno
Staff writersApproximately 130
Founded22 March 1897; 124 years ago (22 March 1897)
LanguageEnglish
HeadquartersTokyo, Japan
Circulation44,000
ISSN0447-5763
OCLC number21225620
Websitewww.japantimes.co.jp

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]

History[]

Front page of the first issue of The Japan Times newspaper, March 22, 1897

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 communication and editorial opinion.[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]

Content[]

Print[]

The Japan Times, Ltd. publishes three periodicals: The Japan Times, an English-language daily broadsheet;[12] The Japan Times Weekly, an English-language weekly in tabloid form;[13] 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.[14]

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), and Facebook (2007).

Production[]

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

Books[15][]

  • Genki: An Integrated Course in Elementary Japanese
  • Academic Writing for International Students
  • Japanese Folk Tales
  • 80 Communication Games for Japanese Language Teachers
  • Nihongo through Newspaper Articles
  • Japanese through Dialogues for Intermediate Learners
  • Nihongo Drills for Intermediate Learners
  • An Introduction to Japanese Grammar and Communication Strategies
  • Kanji Look and Learn
  • Live from Tokyo
  • Tokyo Transit Book
  • Basic Japanese for Expats: A Practical Course in Business Japanese
  • Konnichiwa, Nihongo!
  • Fun Ways to Memorize Japanese Vocabulary and Everyday Expressions!
  • Nihongo Notes
  • Authentic Japanese: Progressing from Intermediate to Advanced
  • 英語でチャレンジ！大人の社会科見学
  • Rapid Reading Japanese: Improving Reading Skills of Intermediate and Advanced Students
  • Powering Up Your Japanese through Case Studies: Intermediate and Advanced Japanese
  • Nihongo Daijobu!: Elementary Japanese Through Practical Tasks
  • The Japan Culture Book
  • Japanese History in Simple English
  • News Nihongo
  • Introducing World Heritage Sites in Japan
  • Business Japanese: All-in-One Practical Exerceses for Listening Reading, Speaking and Writing
  • Role-Based Listening: Progressing from Intermediate to Advanced Japanese
  • Kanji Puzzles & Quizzes
  • Kana Can Be Easy
  • Japan Up Close
  • Japan: Then and Now
  • Conversing in Japanese
  • Multimedia Exercises for Basic Japanese Grammar
  • Writing Business Emails in Japanese
  • The Best Practice Tests for the Japanese-Language Proficiency Test
  • All About Japan: A Bilingual Handbook for Visitors and Interpreter-guides
  • The Best Complete Workbook for the Japanese Language Proficiency Test N1

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.[16] 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" 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."[17] 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.[18] In response to these criticisms, The Japan Times wrote in an article on December 7, 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.[19]

Contributors[]

Employee unions[]

Staff at The Japan Times are represented by two unions, one of which is Tozen.[21]

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. ^ Jump up to: a b "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. ^ Jump up to: a b 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. ^ "Newspaper Sizes". Paper-sizes.com. Retrieved 2 December 2014.
  13. ^ "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.
  14. ^ ""The Japan Times / International New York Times" to launch tomorrow; commemorative event scheduled for Oct.23". The Japan Times (press release). 15 October 2013.
  15. ^ "Japan Times Publishing Book Club: Book Search". The Japan Times Publishing Book Club. Archived from the original on 24 July 2021. Retrieved 24 July 2021.
  16. ^ Saito, Mari; Miyazaki, Ami (24 January 2019). "'Fear' and 'favor' chill newsroom at storied Japanese paper". Reuters. Retrieved 24 January 2019.
  17. ^ "South Korea's top court orders Mitsubishi Heavy to pay compensation for wartime labor". The Japan Times. 29 November 2018. Retrieved 30 November 2018.
  18. ^ McCurry, Justin (30 November 2018). "'Comfort women': anger as Japan paper alters description of WWII terms". The Guardian. Retrieved 30 November 2018.
  19. ^ "Why The Japan Times was defeated by the "compulsory" expressions of comfort women and recruiters (ジャパンタイムズが慰安婦と採用担当者の「強制的な」表現に打ち負かされた理由)". ITmedia. 13 December 2018. Archived from the original on 15 October 2020.
  20. ^ Mark Brazil - The Japan Times Japan Times Retrieved 25 March 2017
  21. ^ "Tozen - The Japan Times". Tozen. 7 August 2010. Retrieved 7 August 2010.

External links[]

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