''The Japan Times'' is Japan's largest and oldest English-language daily newspaper. It is published by , a subsidiary of News2u Holdings, Inc.. It is headquartered in the in Kioicho, Chiyoda, Tokyo.

History

The-Japan-Times-Newspaper-First-Issue-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 English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ...

to help Japan to participate in the international community. The newspaper was independent of government control, but from 1931 onward, the paper's editors experienced mounting pressure from the

Japanese government The Government of Japan consists of legislative, executive and judiciary branches and is based on popular sovereignty. The Government runs under the framework established by the Constitution of Japan, adopted in 1947. It is a unitary state, ...

to submit to its policies. In 1933, the

Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs The is an executive department of the Government of Japan, and is responsible for the country's foreign policy and international relations. The ministry was established by the second term of the third article of the National Government Organ ...

appointed Hitoshi Ashida, former ministry official, as chief editor. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, the newspaper served as an outlet for Imperial Japanese government communication and editorial opinion. 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. The temporary change to ''Nippon Times'' occurred during the ban on English language sentiment during World War II-era Japan. 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. Ogasawara served as the chairman and publisher of ''The Japan Times'' until 2016, 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. Nifco sold ''The Japan Times'' to PR firm News2u Holdings, Inc. on 30 June 2017.

Content

''The Japan Times'' publishes ''The Japan Times'', ''The Japan Times On Sunday'',
The Japan Times Alpha
' (a bilingual weekly), books in English and Japanese. Staff at ''The Japan Times'' are represented by two unions, one of which is

Tozen Zenkoku Ippan Tokyo General Union (全国一般東京ゼネラルユニオン), or Tozen Union (東ゼン労組), is a Japanese labour union. It was founded on April 25, 2010, by Louis Carlet, Tony Dolan, and David Ashton. It is a "godo roso" ge ...

Print

The Japan Times, Ltd. publishes three periodicals: ''The Japan Times'', an English-language daily

broadsheet A broadsheet is the largest newspaper format and is characterized by long vertical pages, typically of . Other common newspaper formats include the smaller Berliner and tabloid–compact formats. Description Many broadsheets measure roughly ...

; ''The Japan Times Weekly'', an English-language weekly in

tabloid Tabloid may refer to: * Tabloid journalism, a type of journalism * Tabloid (newspaper format), a newspaper with compact page size ** Chinese tabloid * Tabloid (paper size), a North American paper size * Sopwith Tabloid The Sopwith Tabloid an ...

form; and ''Shukan ST'', also a weekly in tabloid form, targeted at Japanese readers learning the English language. Since 16 October 2013, ''The Japan Times'' has been printed and sold along with '' The New York Times International Edition''.

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 Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...

, and

Facebook Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dust ...

since 2007.

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. 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." 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. In response to these criticisms, The Japan Times wrote in an article on 7 December 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.

Contributors

Mark Brazil Dr Mark Andrew Brazil (born 8 June 1955) is a conservationist, author and journalist, particularly noted for his work on east Asian birds. Brazil was born in Worcestershire, England, and studied at Keele University, Staffordshire where he grad ...

, Wild Watch nature columnist (1982–2015)Mark Brazil - The Japan Times
'' Japan Times'' Retrieved 25 March 2017 * Monty DiPietro, art critic * John Gauntner, Nihonshu columnist * John Gunning, sumo columnist * Don Maloney * Fume Miyatake, Women in Business columnist * Jean Pearce, community columnist *

Ezra Pound Ezra Weston Loomis Pound (30 October 1885 – 1 November 1972) was an expatriate American poet and critic, a major figure in the early modernist poetry movement, and a Fascism, fascist collaborator in Italy during World War II. His works ...

, Italian correspondent * Dreux Richard, African community, investigative * Donald Richie, book, film critic * Elyse Rogers, Women in Business columnist * Mark Schilling, film critic * Edward Seidensticker * Fred Varcoe, sports editor *

Robert Yellin Robert Yellin is an American Japanese ceramics specialist who has regularly written for several publications. Yellin currently resides in Japan where he has been living since 1984. He owns and runs Robert Yellin Yakimono Gallery in Kyoto in additio ...

Ceramic Scene columnist

References

External links

''The Japan Times'' Online
{{DEFAULTSORT:Japan Times 1897 establishments in Japan Publications established in 1897 Daily newspapers published in Japan English-language newspapers published in Japan Newspapers published in Tokyo