How Japan's largest newspaper became a global media giant and a political powerhouse
In short: With the world's highest daily circulation, The Yomiuri Shimbun is more than a newspaper. It is a massive media conglomerate that owns professional baseball teams, television networks, and publishing houses. From its origins as a literary publication to its role as a controversial political influencer, its history is uniquely Japanese.
Founded in 1874, The Yomiuri Shimbun evolved from a small daily into a global circulation titan. By 2010, it earned a Guinness World Record for the highest daily newspaper circulation, with morning editions once exceeding 10 million copies. Today, it remains a cornerstone of Japanese media, headquartered in Tokyo and operating as the flagship of a vast conglomerate, Yomiuri Shimbun Holdings. This entity, which is privately held by employees and the Matsutarō Shōriki family, also controls the Nippon Television network and the Yomiuri Giants baseball team.
The paper’s trajectory was fundamentally altered in 1924 when Matsutarō Shōriki assumed management. Shōriki transformed the publication into a broad-interest daily, but his legacy is complex. Following World War II, he was arrested as a Class-A war criminal, though charges were later dropped. During this period, the newspaper became the site of a landmark 1945 labor strike, where employees seized control of production—a tactic that would influence union activities across Japan for decades. Research later suggested Shōriki acted as a CIA informant during the postwar era.
Politically, the Yomiuri is known for its conservative orientation and pro-American stance. Under the long-term leadership of editor-in-chief Tsuneo Watanabe, who served from 1991 until 2024, the paper exerted significant influence over Japanese politics. Its editorial positions have often sparked debate, particularly regarding its historical coverage of the comfort women system and its consistent promotion of nuclear power. Despite its immense reach, the paper has faced legal challenges, including a 2015 libel judgment and a 2025 lawsuit against the AI firm Perplexity, highlighting the ongoing tension between traditional journalism and the digital age.
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Sources
- Summary by Intellect · source: The Yomiuri Shimbun
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