From: Jane Kurokawa
kurokawa@proaxis.com
>From: Jeffrey Lesser
> jhles@conncoll.edu
> I am specialist in Brazilian history currently completing a
>book on non-European immigration to Brazil. One major component of the
>book deals with Japanese immigration and I have come across a large number
>of newspapers clippings in English from the 1920's and 1930's that seem to
>have appeared in an English language newspaper entitled "The Osaka Mainichi
>and Tokyo Nichi-Nichi" (a single title).
> Does anyone know anything about this and other English language
>newspapers in Japan like the "Japan Advertiser" or "Japan Times and Mail".
>Were they published daily or weekly? Did they simply reprint stories
>from the Japanese papers or were they owned as operated as independant
>papers? Any information would be greatly appreciated.
i found the following on the "japan times" in kodansha's *japan, an
illustrated encyclopedia,* 1993, isbn 4-06-931098-3 (set of 2 vols), p. 677:
"japan times. the first english-language newspaper in japan to be put out
by japanese publishers; started in 1897 by Zumoto Motosada (1862-1943) and
Yamada Sueji (1848-1916) with the backing of government leader Itou Hirobumi
and with the support of educator Fukuzawa Yukichi. it was for many years
the sole foreign-language news publication in japan. the paper's news
format was patterned on that of *the times* of london and aimed at
explaining japan's position on international affairs. dating back to the
years before world war ii, the *japan times* had close ties with the
ministry of foreign affairs, from which it received financial support during
the war; however, it is no longer tied to any government agency. between
the years 1943 and 1956 the name was changed to *nippon times.* it
continues to publish actively and, in addition to a daily edition, puts ouf
the *japan times weekly,* the *student times,* and various books and
dictionaries, all in english. the paper's motto is All the News without
Fear or Favor. circulation was 75,000 in 1989."
there was no information on the *japan advertiser* or the *osaka mainichi*
(note: the *mainichi shimbun* and *asahi shimbun* were both started in osaka
but were japanese-language papers), but there was a section on japanese
newspapers. most of the article deals with japanese-language newspapers,
but there was this entry on english-language publications (kodansha, p. 1079):
"the first modern newspaper was the *nagasaki shipping list and advertiser,*
published twice a week beginning in 1861 by the englishman A.W. Hansard in
nagasaki. in 1862 the tokugawa shogunate (1603-1867) began publishing the
*kampan batabiya shimbun,* a translated and re-edited edition of *javasche
courant,* the organ of the dutch government in indonesia. these two papers
contained only foreign news. newspapers covering domestic news were first
started by the japanese in edo (now tokyo), osaka, kyoto, and nagasaki in
1868. Yanagawa Shunsan's *chuugai shimbun,* typical of early papers and a
model for later papers, carried domestic news as well as abridged
translations from foreign papers. the first japanese daily paper, the
*yokohama mainichi shimbun,* was launched in 1871. the *tokyo nichinichi
shimbun* (predecessor of the *mainichi shimbun*), the *yuubin houchi
shimbun* (predecessor of the *houchi shimbun*), and the oldest existing
local newspaper, the *kouchuu shimbun* (predecessor of the *yamanashi
nichinichi shimbun*), were all begun in 1872."
if prof. lesser would like a copy of the kodansha article on newspapers, i
would be happy to fax or mail him a copy. i just need to get to the copy
center since i don't have a copier at home. let me know by private email.
i found three references on newspapers in the *concise dictionary of modern
japanese history* compiled by janet e. hunter, uc press, 1984, isbn
0-520-04557-2.
hanazono, k., *the development of japanese journalism* (osaka, 1924).
nihon shimbun kyoukai, *the japanese press* (tokyo, 1977).
whittemore, e.p., *the press in japan today: a case study* (columbia, s.c.,
1961).
maybe the whittemore book has some info on newspaper history. the other 2
are probably in japanese.
hth,
jane
--- kurokawa@proaxis.com