United Airline From Hong Kong, joined Jan 2001, 8792 posts, RR: 17 Reply 2, posted (2 months 3 weeks 4 days 19 hours ago) and read 626 times:
WOW I am surprised! Japanese is not an international language and I guess the Japanese newspapers are limited to domestic consumption. Also Japan has less people than the US
In the US, most people read their "hometown" newspaper still. The Wall Street Journal and USA Today are what pass off for national newspapers, only one is evidently specialized and the other is distributed mostly through airports and hotels because travelers from one city really don't care for the local newspaper of the city they visit. The New York Times is trying to become a nationwide newspaper in competition with USA Today, with both a national edition and a Texas edition, but it isn't there yet...
RayChuang From United States of America, joined Jun 2000, 7694 posts, RR: 5 Reply 4, posted (2 months 3 weeks 4 days 7 hours ago) and read 523 times:
If you are fluent in Japanese, I'd recommend reading the Asahi Shinbun, a newspaper that is highly respected even outside of Japan. I personally think people in Japan still read more newspapers out of habit, while here in the USA people are more likely to get their news from various online sources.
rfields5421 From United States of America, joined Jul 2007, 6141 posts, RR: 25 Reply 5, posted (2 months 3 weeks 4 days 7 hours ago) and read 499 times:
Quoting United Airline (Reply 2): I am surprised! Japanese is not an international language and I guess the Japanese newspapers are limited to domestic consumption. Also Japan has less people than the US
Even back in 1982 - Japan newspaper circulations exceeded US circulations by several orders of magnitude.
US newspapers have been suffering from the competition with television from the 1960s.
Most of the Japanese read the newspaper daily. One factor is that most Japanese commute to work on public transportation - so reading a newspaper on the train or bus is very common.
I would suspect the internet is beginning to make inroads among young Japanese and slowing circulation numbers. But I wonder about the ability to use smart phones on the subway and train lines as they go through tunnels frequently.
Being a smaller nation than the US - Japan is able to support five true national newspapers because there is less regional distinction.
Quoting RayChuang (Reply 4): I'd recommend reading the Asahi Shinbun, a newspaper that is highly respected even outside of Japan.
The Asahi Shimbun is an excellent paper with an international reputation.
Japan even supports an English language only paper - The Japan Times - with a circulation of over 40,000.
PHX787 From Japan, joined Mar 2012, 4954 posts, RR: 15 Reply 6, posted (2 months 3 weeks 4 days 6 hours ago) and read 488 times:
Quoting United Airline (Reply 2): WOW I am surprised! Japanese is not an international language and I guess the Japanese newspapers are limited to domestic consumption. Also Japan has less people than the US
True but Japanese really rely on these papers. 127M people, and wide distribution. Not surprising this is on that list
Revelation From United States of America, joined Feb 2005, 10450 posts, RR: 20 Reply 9, posted (2 months 3 weeks 4 days 4 hours ago) and read 441 times:
Quoting rfields5421 (Reply 5): Most of the Japanese read the newspaper daily. One factor is that most Japanese commute to work on public transportation - so reading a newspaper on the train or bus is very common.
Interesting to read that:
Quote:
the numbers of the Japanese newspapers have been subjected to claims of "Oshigami" or circulation exaggeration[5]
It also points out that they have been hurt by more use of direct-mail, perhaps a response by advertisers to the exaggerated circulation numbers. Note the article was written in 2009 so it might be out of date.
Quoting rfields5421 (Reply 5): I would suspect the internet is beginning to make inroads among young Japanese and slowing circulation numbers. But I wonder about the ability to use smart phones on the subway and train lines as they go through tunnels frequently.
The article says:
Quote:
Gradually the ageing but still numerous generations who take the big dailies and NHK (the Japan Broadcasting Corporation) as their principal information sources are being edged aside by the post-1980s, post-bubble cohorts -- fewer, generally less well-off, inveterate IT-adopters, much less tethered to authorised news.
According to the most recent Japan Newspaper Publishers Association (NSK) readership survey, morning papers were read daily by 86 per cent of people aged 60-plus, 54 per cent of 30 to 40-year-olds, and 34 per cent of 20 to 30s. NSK finds that although 73 per cent of daily news consumers read newspapers, 69 per cent, a big overlap, access online news by mobile phones, the most common internet device in Japan.
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