The Sankei Shimbun (Japanese: 産経新聞, Hepburn: Sankei Shinbun), name short for Sangyō Keizai Shinbun (産業経済新聞, lit.'Industrial and Economic News'), is a daily national newspaper in Japan published by the Sankei Shimbun Co., Ltd, ranking amongst the top five most circulated newspapers in Japan. Together with its English-language paper Japan Forward, the Sankei Shimbun has been described as having a conservative, nationalist, far-right political stance. It has repeatedly published materials downplaying, whitewashing, or outright denying Japanese war crimes.
The Sankei Shimbun was created by the merger of two older newspapers: Jiji News and Nihon Kogyō Shimbun. Jiji News was founded in 1882 by author, translator, and journalist Fukuzawa Yukichi, who also founded Keio University. Nihon Kogyō Shimbun, founded in 1933 by Hisakichi Maeda, specialized in business and was published by the Minami-Osaka Shimbun (the South Osaka Evening newspaper). In 1941, the Osaka Shimbun (renamed from Minami-Osaka Shimbun) merged with Osaka Jiji Shimpō (Jiji-Shimpō Osaka edition). The following year, Nihon Kogyō Shimbun merged with other business newspapers in Western Japan, and changed its name to the Sangyō Keizai Shimbun (or the Sankei). In 1955, the Sankei merged with Jiji Shimpō. In 1959, the Sankei and Jiji Shimpō were placed under the Sankei Shimbunmasthead.
In 1958, the Sankei was acquired by Shigeo Mizuno and Nobutaka Shikanai. After financial difficulties, it changed direction from being liberal to being conservative (Tenkō). Both Mizuno and Shikanai would go on to found Fuji Television a year later.
The Sankei Shimbun started two online newspapers in 1996: Sankei Web, in website style, and E-NEWS, in personal digital assistant style. In 2001, the Sankei Shimbun started a new electronic newspaper delivery edition, NEWSVUE. In 2002, the Sankei Shimbun merged with Osaka Shimbun. Both editions were placed under the Sankei Shimbun masthead. In 2005, the Sankei Shimbun added video to its digital edition, suitable for smartphone, and renamed it as Sankei NetView. In 2007, the Sankei Shimbun started a new online newspaper, MSN Sankei News[ja], in collaboration with Microsoft. In 2014 the Sankei Shimbun rebranded its online news as Sankei News.
In August 2014, South Korea filed suit against the Sankei for insults against president Park Geun-hye, published in one of the newspaper's articles, and demanded Tatsuya Kato, head of the Seoul Bureau, present himself for questioning. The article in question covered several rumors about Park during the sinking of MV Sewol, referring to Korean news reports in the conservative newspaper The Chosun Ilbo; however, only the Sankei was charged with defamation, considered an anti-Korean newspaper in Korea. The Japanese media assumed the suit was a warning to the Sankei. Kato, who was eventually acquitted of defamation charges in December 2015, was under prosecution without detention for a year and two months. The South Korean court said press freedoms were taken into consideration in arriving at Kato's acquittal.
In December 2014, the newspaper apologized after running an advert for antisemitic books by conspiracy theorist Richard Koshimizu.
On February 11, 2015, regular columnist Ayako Sono wrote an opinion piece opining that though she considered it necessary for Japan to accept more immigrants to bolster its decreasing workforce, it would also be necessary for Japan to take steps to ensure the separation of immigrants in regards to living conditions, citing South African apartheid as an example of how to achieve this goal.
In 2017, Sankei Shimbun launched the English language online website Japan Forward.
Ownership
Sankei Shimbun (産経新聞, Sankei Shimbun), a national newspaper.
FujiSankei Business i (フジサンケイビジネスアイ, FujiSankei Business i), an industry, business and economy newspaper that renamed Nihon Kogyo Shimbun (Japan Industry Newspaper) in March 2004, which ended publication in July 2021.[citation needed]
Sankei Sports (サンケイスポーツ, Sankei Sports), a Japanese daily sports newspaper since 1955.
Yukan Fuji (夕刊フジ, Fuji Evening Edition), a Japanese daily evening tabloid newspaper since 1969. suspended publication on 2025.
Keiba Eight (競馬エイト, Horse Racing Eight), a horse racing newspaper since 1971.
Osaka Shimbun (大阪新聞), a Kansai regional evening newspaper that suspended publication in 2002.
Sankei Express (サンケイエクスプレス（産経エクスプレス）), a targeted at young people newspaper founded in 2006.
Political stances
The Sankei Shimbun is a nationalist and conservative newspaper. Some book and media outlets have called the Sankei Shimbun a far-right newspaper; The Sankei Shimbun has previously published revisionist perspectives on Imperial Japan's wartime history, particularly regarding the Nanjing Massacre and the "comfort women" system. These include casting doubt, minimizing, and outright denying the atrocities committed by the Imperial Japanese Army in World War II.
In July 2015, Sankei Shimbun published the history book History Wars: Japan – False Indictment of the Century, which questioned the veracity of claims of Japanese war crimes during World War II.
In September 2015, several hundred academics and journalists were sent copies of History Wars and Getting Over it! Why Korea Needs to Stop Bashing Japan. The book mailings were part of a project by right-wing groups such as the Nippon Kaigi to improve international perceptions of Japan. A covering letter from politician Inoguchi Kuniko read in part: "In East Asia, the regional history of the 20th century has been incorrectly distorted[sic] by some individuals due to their current domestic political ambitions, I believe it is important for you, as a highly esteemed member of the academic and policy circles[sic], to look into the books which I am enclosing with this letter."
In April 2025, Philip Brasor and Masako Tsubuku of the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Japan alleged that Sankei Shimbun was a significant presence in spreading anti-Kurdish sentiment in Japan. They alleged that Sankei had published misleading stories that leaned negative about Kurds on a number of occasions.
Sankei Award, Sankei Prize
Praemium Imperiale (高松宮殿下記念世界文化賞, Takamatsu no miya denka kinen sekai bunka-shō; lit.'World Culture Prize in Memory of His Imperial Highness Prince Takamatsu') – An international art prize founded in 1989 awarded by the Imperial family of Japan on behalf of the Japan Art Association in the fields of painting, sculpture, architecture, music, theatre and film.
Tokyo Police Officers Prize (都民の警察官, Tomin no Keisatsukan) – An award founded in 1952.
Peoples' Self-Defense Officials Prize (国民の自衛官, Kokumin no Jieikan) – An award recognizing self-defense officials[clarification needed] founded in 2002.
Sankei Children's Book Award (産経児童出版文化賞, Sankei jidou shuppan bunka Shō) – The oldest children's literature award in Japan.
Naniwa Art Festival (なにわ藝術祭, Naniwa Geijutsu Sai) – Major traditional culture award for the arts of rakugo (comedic Japanese verbal entertainment), buyō (Japanese dance), modern dance, classical music and jazz, awarded since 1964.
Sankei International Calligraphic Art Exhibition (産経国際書展, Sankei Kokusai Sho-Ten) – A major kanji (Japanese calligraphy) award founded in 1984.
Philanthropy
Akemi Chan Fund (明美ちゃん基金, Akemi Chan Kikin) – a medical fund set up in Japan for impoverished children with heart defects.
Sankei Social Welfare Association (産経新聞厚生文化事業団, Sankei Kousei bunka jigyōdan) – a nonprofit organization for societal welfare.
Fuji Television – Fuji Television Network, Inc. (株式会社フジテレビジョン, Kabushiki Gaisha Fuji Terebijon) is a major Japanese television station, also known as Fuji TV (フジテレビ, Fuji Terebi) or CX. It is the flagship station of the Fuji News Network (FNN) and the Fuji Network System.
Masami Abe, first reported the abduction of Japanese nationals by the North Korean regime in 1979, for which he was awarded the Japan Newspaper Publishers and Editors Association Award
↑The paper's evening edition is published only for the Kansai region.
↑'Naniwa' refers to the place that became the modern Japanese city of Osaka.
References
↑Jeff Kingston, ed. (2016). Press Freedom in Contemporary Japan. Routledge. ISBN9781317234357. ... Likely, the author knows that he can spin whatever version of reality he wants to because his readers don't know better and, as subscribers to the reactionary Sankei Shimbun, are predisposed to dismiss any criticism of Japan or PM Abe...
↑Harvard University's Reischauer Institute of Japanese Studies published an analysis of the Japanese media's political spectrum, as part of an analysis of the constitutional reform issue. According to Harvard: "The Sankei Shimbun has generally been recognized as a "conservative" newspaper".
12Matthews, Eugene A. (January 28, 2009). "Japan's New Nationalism". Foreign Affairs. Retrieved February 21, 2020. ... And such sentiments appear regularly in Sankei Shimbun, Japan's nationalist daily...
12"Japanese right muzzling liberal media: Analysts". The Straits Times. December 9, 2014. Retrieved February 21, 2020. The Sankei Shimbun, a robustly nationalistic paper, and the right-wing Yomiuri Shimbun – the world's biggest newspaper with 10million copies sold daily – devoted acres of coverage to the episode.
12Bartlett, Duncan (November 20, 2019). "Japan and South Korea: Headaches and Headlines". The Diplomat. Retrieved July 4, 2020. This suggestion is rejected outright by the conservative Japanese newspaper the Sankei, which is noted for its nationalism.
↑"Nationalism, nuclear power and Japans fragile media opposition". East Asia Forum. October 1, 2014. "But the newspaper world has become polarised into two ideological camps: the pro-nuclear camp led by Yomiuri Shimbun and the right-wing Sankei Shimbun..."
↑楽天、TBS買収に挑む ベンチャー三国志 Vol.19[Rakuten attempts to acquire TBS Venture Three Kingdoms Vol.19]. Kigyoka Club (in Japanese). Kigyoka Club. May 1, 2013. Archived from the original on February 1, 2015.
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