Asahi Shimbun

Asahi Shimbun (朝日新聞, Asahi Shinbun) is a Japanese national newspaper, and it is the second most circulated newspaper in the world, after it's Japanese rival, the conservative Yomiuri Shimbun. The newspaper forms, together with the Yomiuri Shimbun and the Mainichi Shimbun, what is called "the big three" in Japanese newspapers. Its circulation was as of June, 2005, 8.2 million copies of the morning edition and nearly 3.8 million copies of the evening edition.

History

The newspaper's first issue was published in Osaka on January 25, 1879, by politician Murayama Ryohei (Ueno Ri'ichi, who joined the managament 2 years later is often cited as a co-fouder). The paper was a small-sized 4 page publication, complete with pictures and furigana (Japanese signs used to indicate pronounciation). In the beginning, the newspaper usually sold a 1000 copies a day. In September the same year, the first editorial in the newspaper was published. In 1882, "neutrality" and "altruism" were adopted as the newspapers' principal policies, which at the time was seen as a novelty, with most current newspapers outspokenly siding with either the civil right's movement or the government. In 1883, the newspaper's circulation surmounted 30,000 copies a day, making it the largest newspaper in Japan. In 1888, an office was opened in Tokyo, and an Asahi Shimbun Tokyo edition was put into print.

In 1923, Asahi inaugurated Japan's first regular airmail service—with its own fleet of planes—to link the Osaka and Tokyo editions.