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The Japan Times is an English-language newspaper published in Japan. It is published by The Japan Times, Ltd. (株式会社 ジャパン タイムズ, Kabushiki gaisha Japan Taimuzu?), a subsidiary of Nifco, a leading manufacturer of plastic fasteners for the automotive and home design industries, which is headquartered in the Japan Times Nifco Building (ジャパンタイムズ・ニフコビル, Japan Taimuzu Nifuko Biru?) in Shibaura, Minato, Tokyo.[1][2] The Japan Times is the only English-language newspaper published in Japan that is not affiliated with a larger Japanese-language media organization (like Yomiuri Shimbun's The Japan News or Asahi Shimbun's International Herald Tribune).
The Japan Times was launched by Motosada Zumoto on March 22, 1897 with the goal of giving Japanese an opportunity to read and discuss news and current events in English in order to help Japan to participate more fully in the international community.[3] It was successively renamed The Japan Times and Mail (1918-1940) following its merger with The Japan Mail, The Japan Times and Advertiser (1940-1943) following its merger with The Japan Advertiser, and Nippon Times (1943-1956) before reverting to the Japan Times title in 1956.
At first, the paper was independent of government control, but from 1931 onward, the Japanese government was mounting pressure on the paper's editors to submit to its policies. In 1933, the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs managed to appoint Hitoshi Ashida, former Ministry official, as chief editor.[4] During World War II, the newspaper served as an outlet for Imperial Japanese government propaganda and editorial opinion. The paper's circulation at that time was about 825,000.[5]
Nifco, a manufacturer of automotive fasteners, acquired control of The Japan Times in 1996.[6] Nifco chairman Toshiaki Ogasawara is also the chairman and publisher of The Japan Times. His daughter Yukiko Ogasawara was president of the company from 2006 to 2012, when she was replaced by career Japan Times staffer Takeharu Tsutsumi.[7]
The Japan Times, Inc. publishes three periodicals: The Japan Times, an English-language daily broadsheet; The Japan Times Weekly, an English-language weekly in tabloid form;[8] and Shukan ST, a weekly in tabloid format, targeted at Japanese learning English. The daily's content includes:
Printed stories from The Japan Times are archived online. The newspaper contains a reader's forum, and since 2013 the website offers a section for readers' comments below articles. This came about during a complete redesign and redevelopment of the newspaper, using Responsive Web Design techniques so that the site is optimised for all digital devices. The Japan Times has a social media presence on Twitter (2007), Facebook (2007) and Google+ (2011).[9]
Staff at The Japan Times are represented by two unions, one of which is Tozen.[10]