Chunichi Shimbun


The Chunichi Shimbun is a Japanese daily "broadsheet" newspaper published in mostly Aichi Prefecture and neighboring regions by Based in Nagoya, one of the three major Japanese metropolitan areas, it boasts the third highest circulation after the group newspapers the Yomiuri Shimbun and The Asahi Shimbun. Even the Chunichi Shimbun alone exceeds the number of copies of the Sankei Shimbun. The newspaper is dominant in its region, with a market penetration approaching 60 percent of the population of Aichi Prefecture. The Chunichi Shimbun group also publishes the Tokyo Shimbun, the Chunichi Sports, and the Tokyo Chunichi Sports newspapers. While each newspaper maintains independent leadership and is considered a "separate" paper, the group's combined circulation in 2024 was 2,274,583, ranking third in Japan behind the Yomiuri Shimbun and the Asahi Shimbun.
The Chunichi Shimbun is Japan's second largest leftist newspaper. It is positioned as a representative newspaper of Nagoya.
It is also the owner of the Chunichi Dragons baseball team.

History

The newspaper was formerly known as Nagoya Shimbun. From 1936 to 1940 it owned the Japanese Baseball League team Nagoya Kinko. The paper acquired the Chubu Nihon in 1946.

Foreign correspondence network

The group has thirteen foreign bureaus. They are in New York City, Washington, D.C., London, Paris, Berlin, Moscow, Cairo, Beijing, Shanghai, Taipei, Seoul, Manila, and Bangkok.

Political position

The Chunichi Shimbun holds progressive views, and has political tendencies towards liberalism, social democracy and socialism.
It supported the Japan Socialist Party in the Showa period, the Democratic Party of Japan and Social Democratic Party in the Heisei period, and the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan in the Reiwa period.
The two prewar newspapers were conservative in the Chunichi Shimbun, but the founder, Kissen Kobayashi, ran for the mayor of Nagoya in 1951 at the recommendation of the Japan Socialist Party and changed to a left-leaning newspaper supported by the Japan Socialist Party. The Tokyo Shimbun was once a right wing, but when it was acquired by the Chunichi Shimbun in 1964, it changed to a left-leaning newspaper.
Probably because of this, the mass media reforms led by the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications under the LDP administration in the Showa era were treated coldly, and it was not possible to become a national newspaper and to have its own TV station in Kanto. No.
It was the only major newspaper against the Koizumi reforms, and the Asahi Shimbun and others agreed. Chunichi was the only one who opposed the TPP in a major newspaper. It holds a pro-labor union position.
Since the 2011 Fukushima nuclear accident, it has taken a strong anti-nuclear policy. It also has a branch office in Fukushima Prefecture.
As a media company, the Yomiuri Shimbun Group and the Fujisankei Communications Group have a deep relationship with the conservative Liberal Democratic Party, while the Chunichi Group is a liberal newspaper and has a deep relationship with the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan.
The Asahi Shimbun had a close relationship with the Kōchikai, a moderate faction of the Liberal Democratic Party.
It opposes the revision of the constitution and the prime minister's visit to Yasukuni Shrine.
This newspaper is skeptical of the death penalty.

Group companies

Mass media

The following broadcasting stations are jointly funded by other major newspapers.