, often shortened to simply Asahi Geinō or , is a shūkanshi

Shukanshi

is a Japanese term for any weekly magazine, including controversial weekly tabloid newspapers.As noted by Watanabe and Gamble in the Japan Media Review, the genre is "often described as bizarre blends of various types of U.S...

 founded by Hirotomo Takei and published by Tokuma Shoten

Tokuma Shoten

is a publisher in Japan, that was established in 1954.The company was also the parent company for the film studio Daiei Motion Pictures, bought in 1974, and the record label Tokuma Japan Communications, bought in 1972, until both were sold off when Yasuyoshi Tokuma, who established this company,...

 in 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...

. It was first published under the title in January 1946, though the title and size were changed to the current one in October 1956. The longest-running manga in in the world by a single author, Sennin Buraku by Kō Kojima

Ko Kojima

is a Japanese manga artist. He is best known for penning Sennin Buraku , the longest running comic by a single artist...

, was published in the first issue with the new title, and has been running ever since.

The magazine tends to focus on sensationalized stories

Sensationalism

Sensationalism is a type of editorial bias in mass media in which events and topics in news stories and pieces are over-hyped to increase viewership or readership numbers...

, celebrity gossip, stories about yakuza

Yakuza

, also known as , are members of traditional organized crime syndicates in Japan. The Japanese police, and media by request of the police, call them bōryokudan , literally "violence group", while the yakuza call themselves "ninkyō dantai" , "chivalrous organizations". The yakuza are notoriously...

, articles with risque or erotic

Eroticism

Eroticism is generally understood to refer to a state of sexual arousal or anticipation of such – an insistent sexual impulse, desire, or pattern of thoughts, as well as a philosophical contemplation concerning the aesthetics of sexual desire, sensuality and romantic love...

 content or topics, and scandal

Scandal

A scandal is a widely publicized allegation or set of allegations that damages the reputation of an institution, individual or creed...

s. About 90% of the readership are married, male salarymen

Salaryman

refers to someone whose income is salary based; particularly those working for corporations. Its frequent use by Japanese corporations, and its prevalence in Japanese manga and anime has gradually led to its acceptance in English-speaking countries as a noun for a Japanese white-collar...

. Asahi Geinō frequently has articles related to sex

Human sexual behavior

Human sexual activities or human sexual practices or human sexual behavior refers to the manner in which humans experience and express their sexuality. People engage in a variety of sexual acts from time to time, and for a wide variety of reasons...

, and participates in campaigns to stem the AIDS epidemic.

The English language

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...

 newspaper Mainichi Daily News often reprints in their "WaiWai" column translations of and commentaries on articles from Asahi Geinō.
Other articles in Asahi Geinō have covered include an apparent rise in 20-something virgins, the possibility of breast milk

Breast milk

Breast milk, more specifically human milk, is the milk produced by the breasts of a human female for her infant offspring...

 being a cure for obesity

Obesity

Obesity is a medical condition in which excess body fat has accumulated to the extent that it may have an adverse effect on health, leading to reduced life expectancy and/or increased health problems...

, and accusations of groping while on a train (and advice on how to avoid being falsely accused).

Weekly Asahi Geinō is not related to the similarly titled Weekly Asahi (which is owned by the also-unrelated Asahi Shimbun

Asahi Shimbun

The is the second most circulated out of the five national newspapers in Japan. Its circulation, which was 7.96 million for its morning edition and 3.1 million for its evening edition as of June 2010, was second behind that of Yomiuri Shimbun...

).

Criticism

The Asahi Geino has been criticized for attacking Japan's sex education

Sex education

Sex education refers to formal programs of instruction on a wide range of issues relating to human sexuality, including human sexual anatomy, sexual reproduction, sexual intercourse, reproductive health, emotional relations, reproductive rights and responsibilities, abstinence, contraception, and...

 while at the same time publishing nude photographs and sex-related articles and stories.

External links

Weekly Asahi Geinō (official site)