Asahi Shimbun
Encyclopedia
Yomiuri Shimbun
The is a Japanese newspaper published in Tokyo, Osaka, Fukuoka, and other major Japanese cities. It is one of the five national newspapers in Japan; the other four are the Asahi Shimbun, the Mainichi Shimbun, Nihon Keizai Shimbun, and the Sankei Shimbun...
. The company has its headquarters in Tsukiji
Tsukiji
Tsukiji is a district of Chūō, Tokyo, Japan, the site of the Tsukiji fish market. Literally meaning "reclaimed land," it lies near the Sumida River on land reclaimed from Tokyo Bay in the 18th century, during the Edo period....
, Chūō
Chuo, Tokyo
is one of the 23 special wards that form the heart of Tokyo, Japan. The ward refers to itself as Chūō City in English.Its Japanese name literally means "Central Ward," and it is historically the main commercial center of Tokyo, although Shinjuku has risen to challenge it since the end of World War II...
, Tokyo
Tokyo
, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...
.
The newspaper has alliances with the International Herald Tribune
International Herald Tribune
The International Herald Tribune is a widely read English language international newspaper. It combines the resources of its own correspondents with those of The New York Times and is printed at 38 sites throughout the world, for sale in more than 160 countries and territories...
, which is owned by the New York Times. Together, they publish International Herald Tribune/The Asahi Shimbun as their English edition, which has replaced Asahi's previous Asahi Evening News. The Tribune also co-operates with Asahi on AERA English, a glossy magazine
Magazine
Magazines, periodicals, glossies or serials are publications, generally published on a regular schedule, containing a variety of articles. They are generally financed by advertising, by a purchase price, by pre-paid magazine subscriptions, or all three...
for English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
learners. Asahi also has a partnership with the People's Daily
People's Daily
The People's Daily is a daily newspaper in the People's Republic of China. The paper is an organ of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China , published worldwide with a circulation of 3 to 4 million. In addition to its main Chinese-language edition, it has editions in English,...
, which is the official newspaper of the Communist Party of China
Communist Party of China
The Communist Party of China , also known as the Chinese Communist Party , is the founding and ruling political party of the People's Republic of China...
.
In 1994, after conducting a survey, Le Monde
Le Monde
Le Monde is a French daily evening newspaper owned by La Vie-Le Monde Group and edited in Paris. It is one of two French newspapers of record, and has generally been well respected since its first edition under founder Hubert Beuve-Méry on 19 December 1944...
considered Asahi Shimbun one of the eight biggest daily newspapers in the world, along with The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
(United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
), Financial Times
Financial Times
The Financial Times is an international business newspaper. It is a morning daily newspaper published in London and printed in 24 cities around the world. Its primary rival is the Wall Street Journal, published in New York City....
(United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
), Izvestia
Izvestia
Izvestia is a long-running high-circulation daily newspaper in Russia. The word "izvestiya" in Russian means "delivered messages", derived from the verb izveshchat . In the context of newspapers it is usually translated as "news" or "reports".-Origin:The newspaper began as the News of the...
(Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
), People's Daily
People's Daily
The People's Daily is a daily newspaper in the People's Republic of China. The paper is an organ of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China , published worldwide with a circulation of 3 to 4 million. In addition to its main Chinese-language edition, it has editions in English,...
(China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
), Al Ahram (Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
), El Espectador
El Espectador
El Espectador is a newspaper with national circulation within Colombia, founded by Fidel Cano Gutiérrez on 22 March 1887 in Medellín and published since 1915 in Bogotá...
(Colombia
Colombia
Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the...
), and The Times of India
The Times of India
The Times of India is an Indian English-language daily newspaper. TOI has the largest circulation among all English-language newspaper in the world, across all formats . It is owned and managed by Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd...
.
History
One of Japan's oldest and largest national daily newspapers, the Asahi Shimbun began publication in OsakaOsaka
is a city in the Kansai region of Japan's main island of Honshu, a designated city under the Local Autonomy Law, the capital city of Osaka Prefecture and also the biggest part of Keihanshin area, which is represented by three major cities of Japan, Kyoto, Osaka and Kobe...
on January 25, 1879 as a small-print, four-page illustrated paper that sold for one sen (a hundredth of a yen) a copy, and had a circulation of approximately 3,000 copies. The three founding officers of a staff of twenty were Noboru Kimura (owner), Ryōhei Murayama (company president and publisher), and Tei Tsuda (managing editor). The company's first premises were at Minami-dori, Edobori in Osaka. On September 13 of the same year, Asahi printed its first editorial.
In 1881, the Asahi adopted an all-news format, and enlisted Riichi Ueno as co-owner. From 1882, Asahi began to receive financial support from the Government and Mitsui
Mitsui
is one of the largest corporate conglomerates in Japan and one of the largest publicly traded companies in the world.-History:Founded by Mitsui Takatoshi , who was the fourth son of a shopkeeper in Matsusaka, in what is now today's Mie prefecture...
, and hardened the management base. Then, under the leadership of Ueno, whose brother was one of the Mitsui managers, and Murayama, the Asahi began its steady ascent to national prominence. On July 10, 1888, the first issue of the Tokyo Asahi Shimbun was published from the Tokyo
Tokyo
, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...
office at Motosukiyachō, Kyōbashi. The first issue was numbered No. 1,076 as it was a continuation of three small papers: Jiyu no Tomoshibi, Tomoshibi Shimbun and Mezamashi Shimbun.
Natsume Soseki
, born ', is widely considered to be the foremost Japanese novelist of the Meiji period . He is best known for his novels Kokoro, Botchan, I Am a Cat and his unfinished work Light and Darkness. He was also a scholar of British literature and composer of haiku, Chinese-style poetry, and fairy tales...
, then 41, resigned his teaching positions at Tokyo Imperial University, now Tokyo University to join the Tokyo Asahi Shimbun. This was soon after the publication of his novels Wagahai wa neko de aru (I Am a Cat
I Am a Cat
is a satirical novel written in 1905–1906 by Natsume Sōseki, about Japanese society during the Meiji Period; particularly, the uneasy mix of Western culture and Japanese traditions, and the aping of Western customs....
) and Botchan
Botchan
Botchan is a novel written by Natsume Sōseki in 1906. It is considered to be one of the most popular novels in Japan, read by most Japanese during their childhood. The central theme of the story is morality.-Narrative:...
, which made him the center of literary attention.
On October 1, 1908, Osaka Asahi Shimbun and Tokyo Asahi Shimbun were merged into a single unified corporation, Asahi Shimbun Gōshi Kaisha, with a capitalization of approximately 600,000 yen.
In 1918, because of its critical stance towards Terauchi Masatake
Terauchi Masatake
, GCB was a Japanese military officer and politician. He was a Field Marshal in the Imperial Japanese Army and the 18th Prime Minister of Japan from 9 October 1916 to 29 September 1918.-Early period:...
's cabinet during the Rice Riots, government authorities suppressed an article in the Osaka Asahi, leading to a softening of its liberal views, and the resignation of many of its staff reporters in protest.
Indeed, the newspaper's liberal position led to its vandalization during the February 26 Incident
February 26 Incident
The was an attempted coup d'état in Japan, from February 26 to 29, 1936 carried out by 1,483 troops of the Imperial Japanese Army. Several leading politicians were killed and the center of Tokyo was briefly occupied by the rebelling troops...
of 1936, as well as repeated attacks from the right wing
Uyoku dantai
Uyoku dantai are Japanese nationalist right-wing groups.In 1996, the National Police Agency estimated that there are over 1000 right wing groups in Japan with about 100,000 members in total.-Tennō period:...
throughout this period (and for that matter, throughout its history).
From the latter half of 1930s, Asahi ardently supported Prime Minister Fumimaro Konoe
Fumimaro Konoe
Prince was a politician in the Empire of Japan who served as the 34th, 38th and 39th Prime Minister of Japan and founder/leader of the Taisei Yokusankai.- Early life :...
's wartime government (called Konoe Shin Taisei, or Konoe's New Political Order) and criticized capitalism harshly under Ogata Taketora, the Editor in Chief of Asahi Shimbun. Influential editorial writers of Asahi such as Ryu Shintaro, Sassa Hiroo, and Ozaki Hotsumi (an informant for the famous spy Richard Sorge
Richard Sorge
Richard Sorge was a German communist and spy who worked for the Soviet Union. He has gained great fame among espionage enthusiasts for his intelligence gathering during World War II. He worked as a journalist in both Germany and Japan, where he was imprisoned for spying and eventually hanged....
) were the center members of the Showa Studies Society
Showa Studies Society
The was a political think tank in the pre-war Empire of Japan. -History and Background:The Shōwa Kenkyūkai was established in October 1930 as an informal organization led by Ryūnosuke Gotō, with the original intent of reviewing and assessing issues with the Meiji Constitution and the current...
which was a political think tank
Think tank
A think tank is an organization that conducts research and engages in advocacy in areas such as social policy, political strategy, economics, military, and technology issues. Most think tanks are non-profit organizations, which some countries such as the United States and Canada provide with tax...
for Konoe.
Ogata was one of the leading members of the Genyosha
Genyosha
The ' was an influential ultranationalist group and secret society active in the Empire of Japan.-Foundation as the Koyōsha:Originally founded as the Koyōsha by Hiraoka Kotarō , a wealthy ex-samurai and mine-owner, with mining interests in Manchuria, Toyama Mitsuru, and other former samurai of the...
which had been formed in 1881 by Toyama Mitsuru
Toyama Mitsuru
was a right-wing political leader in early 20th century Japan and founder of the Genyosha nationalist secret society.-Early life:Tōyama was born to a poor samurai family in Fukuoka City in Kyūshū...
. The Genyosha was an ultranationalist group of organized crime figures and those with far right-wing political beliefs. Kōki Hirota
Koki Hirota
was a Japanese diplomat, politician and the 32nd Prime Minister of Japan from March 9, 1936 to February 2, 1937.-Early life:Hirota was born in what is now part of Chūō-ku, Fukuoka city, Fukuoka Prefecture. His father was a stonemason, and he was adopted into the Hirota family. After attending...
, who was later hanged as a Class A war criminal, was also a leading member of the Genyosha and one of Ogata's best friends. Hirota was the chairman of Toyama's funeral committee, and Ogata was the vice-chairman.
Ryu, who had been a Marxist economist of the Ohara Institute for Social Research before he entered Asahi, advocated centrally planned economies in his Nihon Keizai no Saihensei (Reorganization of Japanese Economies. 1939). And Sassa, a son of ultranationalistic politician Tomofusa Sassa, joined hands with far-right generals (they were called Kodoha or Imperial Way Faction
Imperial Way Faction
The was a political faction in the Imperial Japanese Army, active in the 1920s and 1930s and largely supported by junior officers aiming to establish a military government, that promoted totalitarian, militarist, and expansionist ideals...
) and terrorists who had assassinated Junnosuke Inoue (ex-Minister of Finance), Baron Dan Takuma
Dan Takuma
was a Japanese businessman who was Director-General of Mitsui, one of the leading Japanese zaibatsu . He was a graduate of Massachusetts Institute of Technology and was married to the younger sister of statesman Kaneko Kentarō....
(chairman of the board of directors Mitsui
Mitsui
is one of the largest corporate conglomerates in Japan and one of the largest publicly traded companies in the world.-History:Founded by Mitsui Takatoshi , who was the fourth son of a shopkeeper in Matsusaka, in what is now today's Mie prefecture...
combine) and Prime Minister Inukai Tsuyoshi
Inukai Tsuyoshi
was a Japanese politician and the 29th Prime Minister of Japan from 13 December 1931 to 15 May 1932.-Early life:Inukai was born to a former samurai family of the Niwase Domain, in Niwase village, Bizen Province , and was a graduate of Keio Gijuku in Tokyo. In his early career, he worked as a...
to support Konoe. In 1944, they attempted assassination of Prime Minister Hideki Tojo
Hideki Tōjō
Hideki Tōjō was a general of the Imperial Japanese Army , the leader of the Taisei Yokusankai, and the 40th Prime Minister of Japan during most of World War II, from 17 October 1941 to 22 July 1944...
(a member of Toseiha
Toseiha
' was a political faction in the Imperial Japanese Army, active in the 1920s and 1930s.Led by General Kazushige Ugaki, along with Hajime Sugiyama, Koiso Kuniaki, Yoshijirō Umezu, Tetsuzan Nagata and Hideki Tōjō, the Tōseiha was a grouping of officers united primarily by their opposition to the...
or Control Group which conflicted with Kodoha in Japanese Army
Imperial Japanese Army
-Foundation:During the Meiji Restoration, the military forces loyal to the Emperor were samurai drawn primarily from the loyalist feudal domains of Satsuma and Chōshū...
).
On April 9, 1937 the Kamikaze
Kamikaze (1937 aircraft)
The was a Mitsubishi Ki-15 Karigane aircraft, sponsored by the newspaper Asahi Shimbun. It became famous on April 9, 1937 as the first Japanese-built aircraft to fly from Japan to Europe...
, a Mitsubishi
Mitsubishi
The Mitsubishi Group , Mitsubishi Group of Companies, or Mitsubishi Companies is a Japanese multinational conglomerate company that consists of a range of autonomous businesses which share the Mitsubishi brand, trademark and legacy...
aircraft sponsored by the Asahi Shimbun company and flown by Masaaki Iinuma, arrived in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, to the astonishment of the Western world
Western world
The Western world, also known as the West and the Occident , is a term referring to the countries of Western Europe , the countries of the Americas, as well all countries of Northern and Central Europe, Australia and New Zealand...
. It was the first Japanese-built aircraft to fly to Europe.
On September 1, 1940, the Osaka Asahi Shimbun and the Tokyo Asahi Shimbun unified their names into the Asahi Shimbun.
On January 1, 1943, the publication of the Asahi Shimbun was stopped by the government after the newspaper published a critical essay contributed by Seigō Nakano, who was also one of the leading members of the Genyosha and Ogata's best friend.
On July 22, 1944, Ogata, Vice President of Asahi, became a Minister without Portfolio
Minister without Portfolio
A minister without portfolio is either a government minister with no specific responsibilities or a minister that does not head a particular ministry...
and the President of Cabinet Intelligence Agency in Kuniaki Koiso
Kuniaki Koiso
- Notes :...
's cabinet.
On April 7, 1945, Hiroshi Shimomura, former Vice President of Asahi, became the Minister without Portfolio and the President of Cabinet Intelligence Agency in Kantarō Suzuki
Kantaro Suzuki
Baron was an admiral in the Imperial Japanese Navy, member and final leader of the Taisei Yokusankai and 42nd Prime Minister of Japan from 7 April-17 August 1945.-Early life:...
's cabinet.
On August 17, 1945, Ogata became the Minister without Portfolio and the Chief Cabinet Secretary
Chief Cabinet Secretary
__notoc__The of Japan is a Minister of State who is responsible for directing the Cabinet Secretariat. The main function of Chief Cabinet Secretary is to coordinate the policies of ministries and agencies in the executive branch...
and the President of Cabinet Intelligence Agency in Prince Higashikuni
Prince Higashikuni
was the 43rd Prime Minister of Japan from 17 August 1945 to 9 October 1945 for a period of 54 days. An uncle of Emperor Hirohito twice over, Prince Higashikuni was the only member of the Japanese imperial family to head a cabinet...
's cabinet.
On November 5, 1945, as a way of assuming responsibility for compromising the newspaper's principles during the war, the Asahi Shimbun's president and senior executives resigned en masse.
On November 21, 1946, the newspaper adopted the modern kana
Kana
Kana are the syllabic Japanese scripts, as opposed to the logographic Chinese characters known in Japan as kanji and the Roman alphabet known as rōmaji...
usage system (shin kanazukai).
On November 30, 1949, the Asahi Shimbun started to publish the serialized cartoon strip Sazae-san
Sazae-san
is a Japanese comic strip created by Machiko Hasegawa. It was first published in Hasegawa's local paper, the , on April 22, 1946. When the wished to have Hasegawa draw the comic strip for their paper, she moved to Tokyo in 1949 with the explanation that the main characters had moved from Kyūshū to...
by Machiko Hasegawa. This was a landmark cartoon in Japan's postwar era.
Between 1954 and 1971, Asahi Shimbun published a glossy, large-format annual in English entitled This is Japan.
On April 2, 2001, the English-language daily, the International Herald Tribune/The Asahi Shimbun, was first published.
On June 26, 2007, Yoichi Funabashi was named the third Editor-in-Chief of the Asahi Shimbun.
Reproductions of past issues
Reproductions of past issues of the Asahi Shimbun are available in three major forms; as CD-ROMCD-ROM
A CD-ROM is a pre-pressed compact disc that contains data accessible to, but not writable by, a computer for data storage and music playback. The 1985 “Yellow Book” standard developed by Sony and Philips adapted the format to hold any form of binary data....
s, as microfilm, and as shukusatsuban (縮刷版, literally, "reduced-sized print editions"). Shukusatsuban is a technology popularized by Asahi shinbun in the 1930s as a way to compress and archive newspapers by reducing the size of the print to fit multiple pages of a daily newspaper onto one page. Shukusatsuban are geared towards libraries and archives, and are usually organized and released by month. These resources are available at many leading research universities throughout the world (usually universities with reputable Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
ese studies programs).
The Asahi Shimbun has a CD-ROM database consisting of an index of headlines and sub-headlines from the years 1945-1999. A much more expensive full-text searchable database is available only at the Harvard-Yenching Library at Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
, which notably includes advertisements in its index. Researchers using other university libraries would probably have to first use the CD-ROM index, and then look into the microfilm or shukusatsuban versions. Microfilm versions are available from 1888; shukusatsuban versions are available from 1931. Issues of the Asahi Shimbun printed since August 1984 are available through Lexis-Nexis Academic.
Offices
- Osaka Head Office (regstared headquarters): 2-4, Nakanoshima Sanchome, Kita-kuKita-ku, Osakais one of 24 wards of Osaka, Japan.-Economy:West Japan Railway Company has its headquarters in Kita-ku. Nihon Bussan has its headquarters in Kita-ku. Dentsu and Yomiuri Shimbun have branch offices in Kita-ku. Mazda has an office in the Umeda Sky Building Tower East. Air France has an office on the...
, OsakaOsakais a city in the Kansai region of Japan's main island of Honshu, a designated city under the Local Autonomy Law, the capital city of Osaka Prefecture and also the biggest part of Keihanshin area, which is represented by three major cities of Japan, Kyoto, Osaka and Kobe... - Tokyo Head Office: 3-2, Tsukiji Gochome, Chūō, TokyoChuo, Tokyois one of the 23 special wards that form the heart of Tokyo, Japan. The ward refers to itself as Chūō City in English.Its Japanese name literally means "Central Ward," and it is historically the main commercial center of Tokyo, although Shinjuku has risen to challenge it since the end of World War II...
- Hokkaidō Office: 1-1, Kita-Nijo-nishi Itchome, Chūō-ku, Sapporo
- Nagoya Head Office: 3-3, Sakae Itchome, Naka-ku, Nagoya
- West Head Office: Riverwalk KitakyushuRiverwalk Kitakyushuis a prestigious shopping centre near the Murasaki river and Kokura Castle in Kokura Kita ward, Kitakyushu, Japan. It was opened as part of the Kitakyushu Renaissance policy on April 19, 2003 and includes theatres, restaurants, a multiplex cinema, NHK studios, the head offices of Zenrin Co...
, 1-1, Muromachi Itchome, Kokura Kita-ku, Kitakyūshū- Fukuoka Office: 1-1, Hakata Ekimae Nichome, Hakata-ku, FukuokaFukuoka, Fukuokais the capital city of Fukuoka Prefecture and is situated on the northern shore of the island of Kyushu in Japan.Voted number 14 in a 2010 poll of the World's Most Livable Cities, Fukuoka is praised for its green spaces in a metropolitan setting. It is the most populous city in Kyushu, followed by...
- Fukuoka Office: 1-1, Hakata Ekimae Nichome, Hakata-ku, Fukuoka
Group companies
- Nikkan SportsNikkan Sportsis the first-launched Japanese daily sports newspaper founded in 1946.It has a circulation of 1,965,000, and is an affiliate newspaper of Asahi Shimbun.-Companies and regions:...
- Kanagawa Shimbun
- International Herald Tribune/The Asahi Shimbun (from the Japanese WikipediaJapanese Wikipediais the Japanese-language edition of Wikipedia, a free, open-content encyclopedia. It has over articles, making it the ninth largest language edition of Wikipedia after the English, German, French, Dutch, Italian, Polish, Spanish and Russian editions. Started in September 2002, the edition attained...
) - TV AsahiTV Asahi, also known as EX and , is a Japanese television network headquartered in Roppongi, Minato, Tokyo, Japan. The company writes its name in lower-case letters, tv asahi, in its logo and public-image materials. The company also owns All-Nippon News Network....
- Asahi Broadcasting CorporationAsahi Broadcasting Corporationis a regional radio and television broadcaster headquartered in Osaka, Japan, serving in the Kansai region.-Offices:*Headquarters: 1-30, Fukushima Itchome, Fukushima-ku, Osaka-shi, Japan...
- All-Nippon News NetworkAll-Nippon News Network, or ANN, is a commercial television news network in Japan run by TV Asahi Corporation.-All-Nippon News Network stations:-Remote Controller Buttons of Digital TV:*1: Kyushu Asahi Broadcasting*3: TV Miyazaki*5: 20 ANN stations...
See also
- Japanese mediaJapanese mediaThe communications media of Japan include numerous television and radio networks as well as newspapers and magazines in Japan. For the most part, television networks were established based on the capital contribution from existing radio networks at that time...
- Asahi charactersAsahi charactersare forms of Kanji particular to the Asahi Shimbun newspaper. Unlike Simplified Chinese, where simplifications apply to all characters, the general custom in Japanese publications is to print Jōyō/Jinmeiyō Kanji in simplified Shinjitai forms, and to print Hyōgaiji using their original,...
- Kuri-chanKuri-chanis a yonkoma manga series by Susumu Nemoto which ran from October 1, 1951 to March 31, 1965 in the Asahi Shimbun evening edition. Nemoto modeled the main character, Kuri-chan, after his oldest son who was born in 1948. The name of the main character is actually , and gets his nickname from his...
, a yonkomaYonkomathumb|right|150px|Traditional Yonkoma layout, a comic-strip format, generally consists of gag comic strips within four panels of equal size ordered from top to bottom...
manga which ran from 1951-1965 in the newspaper. - Asahiru problemAsahiru problemThe Asahiru problem refers to a series of debates and controversies that emerged on the Japanese Internet following an article published by the Japanese newspaper Asahi Shimbun on 24 September 2007 about former Prime Minister Shinzō Abe...
External links
- Official website (in Japanese)
- Official website (in English)
- Asahi Haikuist Network
- Taketora Ogata