The ''Doyōbi'' (, ) was an anti-fascist newspaper published in

Kyoto Kyoto ( or ; Japanese language, Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in the Kansai region of Japan's largest and most populous island of Honshu. , the city had a population of 1.46 million, making it t ...

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

, from July 1936 to November 1937. The ''Doyōbi'' ("Saturday") was named after the ''Vendredi'' ("Friday"), an organ of the French Popular Front. Katsuo Nose (1894–1979),

Masakazu Nakai (14 February 1900 – 18 May 1952) was a Japanese aesthetician, film theorist, librarian, and social activist. Career Born in Hiroshima Prefecture, Nakai studied philosophy at Kyoto University, particularly aesthetics under Yasukazu Fukuda. He ...

(1900–1952) and Kaname Hayashi (1894–1991), who were popular academics in Kyoto, were responsible for the editing, while Raitaro Saito (1903–1997), a film actor, managed the finances and advertisements by sponsors. The ''Doyōbi'' was a six-page tabloid-size newspaper. The cover page consisted of an illustration by Kenzo Itani (1902–1970) and an editorial opinion from Nakai, Nose or another editor. Apart from the cover page, one page was reserved for movie information, while the remaining four pages were filled by columns about culture, women and entertainment. The content and writing were significantly simple and plain, but maintained an anti-fascist and anti-war stance with cautious wording. The ''Doyōbi'' was distributed by bookstores, with each store stocking 5 to 30 copies. To quickly boost sales, Saito delivered 20 to 30 copies of the ''Doyōbi'' to sponsoring cafés for free. ''The Doyōbi''s reputation then spread day by day, and many cafés bought and put the ''Doyōbi'' on tables. The ''Doyōbi''s circulation, which was 2,000 at first, increased to 8,000 at the peak. Nose and Nakai held editorial meetings at cafés like the

Salon de thé François Salon de thé François is a café in Kyoto, Japan, located at Nishikiyamachi-dōri-Shijō-kudaru; Shimogyō-ku, Kyoto. The building is one of Japan's Registered Tangible Cultural Properties. History Salon de thé François was established ...

, which became the center of the Popular Front movement in Kyoto. The ''Doyōbi'' frequently reported on the lives of workers in Kyoto, as well as being full of amusing articles about movies and fashions, and these articles were the principal characteristic of this newspaper. However, the police strengthened the suppression of the left-wing activists after the outbreak of the

Second Sino-Japanese War The Second Sino-Japanese War was fought between the Republic of China (1912–1949), Republic of China and the Empire of Japan between 1937 and 1945, following a period of war localized to Manchuria that started in 1931. It is considered part ...

in July 1937. In November 1937, Nakai and Saito were arrested and the ''Doyōbi'' was discontinued. Afterward, the police arrested the rest of the members, including Nose, intermittently. This wholesale arrest was later called the Kyoto Popular Front Incident of 1937.

Bibliography

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Doyobi 1936 establishments in Japan 1937 disestablishments in Japan Defunct newspapers published in Japan Japanese anti-war activists Japanese anti-fascists Japanese-language newspapers Mass media in Kyoto Newspapers established in 1936 Publications disestablished in 1937

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Bibliography