Yale University Library Research Guides: Japan Studies: Newspapers

Japanese Newspapers in English

The Far East (1870-78)
Japan Times archives (1897-present)
Japan Weekly Mail (1870 -1917) "A weekly review of Japanese commerce, politics, literature, and art. A fortnightly summary of intelligence from Japan, for transmission to Europe and the United States, via Suez and San Francisco." Now some of content is available through Hathi Trust Database (http://catalog.hathitrust.org/).
Japan Advertiser (1913-1940) Published during a period encompassing the Taisho Period and the early Showa Era, The Japan Advertiser depicts the Japan of almost a century ago from the perspective of foreign journalists. The content includes news articles as well as stories aimed at foreigners living in Japan that introduced Japanese culture and advertising that reflects the social and economic climate of those times.
Japan Chronicle Weekly (1902-1940) “The newspaper of record for Japan’s engagement with modernity and its emergence, through war, political and social upheaval and seismic social change in East Asia, onto the world stage in the first half of the twentieth century.” - from the database site.
Gaikoku Shinbun ni Miru Nihon 外国新聞に見る日本 (1852-1922) Complied newspaper articles on Japan mainly in English, but also in German, French, and Russian.
Foreign Broadcast Information Service (FBIS) daily reports (1960-1996) Provides English-language translations of broadcast transcripts, news agency transmissions, newspapers, periodicals, and government statements from countries around the world, including Japan.
Japan echo (1974)
Nikkei Asian Review / Nikkei Aisa
11/21/2013 to present
Japan Illustrated (1963 to 1977) Year Book of Japan with Official Information and Statistical Data on All Phases of the Empire combined with Special Articles and a Complete Guide Book. Edited by Nippon Dempo News Agency (日本電報通信社) Quarterly pictorial magazine published from 1963 to 1977, 56 issues in total. Content: “Postwar photo journal responds to the foreign gaze” Photographic introduction on Japanese culture, fine arts and crafts, performing art, architecture, cultural heritage, nature, industry, major events and more. Focusing on people who are active in various fields.
Japan Times archive (1897-present)

Guides and databases for finding newspapers

There are many guides for finding newspapers on a specific location, period, topic and ethnic group, etc. Search "newspaper" in the search box of Yale Library Research Guides and limit by adding other keywords or selecting tags, subjects, etc.

Current news resources
Factiva Factiva contains nearly 8,000 sources from 118 countries and 22 languages, and 120 continuously updated newswires. You will see current issues of Japan related newspapers such as: Japan Times Nikkei Weekly Daily Yomiuri Asahi Shimbun AJW
Orbis Yale library owns many reprints or microfilm version of historical newspapers.

Full Text Databases for Japanese Newspapers

Yomidasu (Yomiuri Shinbun 読売新聞) 1874- New version of Yomiuri Shinbun database which lets you search all Yomiuri articles from 1874 to the present and advertisement in the Meiji, Taisho and early Showa. It includes the English Daily Yomiuri from 1989. (The Daily Yomiuri is also in the online journals section).
Asahi Shinbun Cross Search 朝日新聞クロスサーチ Full-text database of Asahi newspapers from 1887 to the present, including local issues (1998 - ), full-text articles of AERA (1988.5 - present), Shukan Asahi (2004- present), 戦前の外地版 and the newest edition of Chiezo.
Mainichi Shinbunsha no dētabēsu, maisaku
Mainichi newspaper articles are stored as follows
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Year 1872 to 1986 : Only image data - via PDF
Year 1987 to 1999 : Image data and Text
Year 2000 to Current : Only Text
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Nikkei Telecom 21 (日本経済新聞) One of Japan's largest business databases, it delivers the latest news and gives access to Nikkei's extensive news archive, business information, and corporate profiles (Five main sections: News; Real-time Nikkei news wire service in Japanese and English; Market & Economic Indicators; Stock Indexes, exchange rates, bond pricing etc.; and Full Text Articles).
Factiva Contains nearly 8,000 sources from 118 countries and 22 languages, and 120 continuously updated newswires. For Japan specific, there are many newspaper in national like 朝日新聞 & 読売新聞, regional such as 福井新聞 & 沖縄タイムス and English language newspaper like Japan Times.
Taiwan Nichi Nichi Shinpō 臺灣日日新報 Taiwan Nichi Nichi Shinpō is a newspaper published beginning in 1898, a result of the merger of Taiwan Shinpō and Taiwan Nippō. It consists of both a Japanese (1898.5-1944.3) and a Chinese language version (1905.7-1911.11), and covers legislation and news as well as cultural activities in Taiwan under Japanese occupation.
Newspaper Clippings Collection (Kobe University Library) The "Newspaper Article Collection," also known as the "Newspaper Clipping Collection," is a collection of newspaper clippings from the end of the Meiji period to 1970, created by the Kobe University Research Institute of Economics and Business Administration. The number of clippings accumulated over more than 60 years of operation is approximately 3,200 volumes, and the number of articles is enormous, amounting to approximately 500,000 items. The digital version of the Newspaper Clippings Archive was opened to the public on June 30, 2000, as the main collection of the attached library's electronic library system, which started service in 1999. Of all the articles in the collection, an estimated 380,000 articles dating back to 1945, which are particularly rare, are being digitized sequentially, and the full text is being made available to the public after the copyright process is completed.
Library PressDisplay Several current Japanese newspapers both in English and Japanese. Click to select "Japan" under Titles by Country. International Herald Tribune Mainichi RT Mainichi Shimbun Digital The Wall Street Journal Asia

Japanese American Newspapers & Journals

The Hoji Shinbun Digital Collection by Hoover Institution
"The world's largest online, free-access full-image collection of newspapers published by overseas Japanese and their descendants... The collection contains about fifteen newspapers published in Hawaii and North America with a total of nearly 500,000 pages. Most publications contain a mix of Japanese and English."
Rafu Shimpo Digital Archive
The paper began in 1903 supporting the small but growing Japanese community in the Little Tokyo area of Las Angeles, California. It was the most widely circulated paper in the region by the 1940’s and included a weekly English section. The paper was forced to cease publication and its publisher was imprisoned by the government during World War II. The archive contains all obtainable published issues from 1914 through 2018.
日系アメリカ文学雑誌集成
Reprint collection of journals published by Japanese American
北米年鑑
Digitaized version at National Diet Library
From Camp to Campus
One of the Library of Congress's Story Maps series "by Megan Bauerle, 2022 Junior Fellow in the Connecting Communities Digital Initiative. This Story Map follows experiences of higher education for Japanese American students under WWII Incarceration. The Story Map focuses on articles from the Japanese American Internment Camp Newspaper collection to look at different individuals from the incarceration centers across the United States. This downloadable CSV file provides the mapped data in this Story Map."

Compiled newspaper columns by period, year and event

Meiji nyūsu jiten (明治ニュース事典）
All articles can be searched by events, personal names and published dates. Retyped and easier to read than previous version.
大正ニュース事典 = Taishō nyūsu jiten
Taishō version of Meiji nyūsu jiten.
昭和ニュース事典 = Shōwa nyūsu jiten
Shōwa version of Meiji nyūsu jiten.
朝日新聞記事総覧 = Asahi shinbun kiji sōran
Index to Newspaper Articles (Taishō-present)
ドキュメント戦後の日本：新聞ニュースに見る社会史大辞典 = Dokyumento sengo no Nihon : shinbun nyūsu ni miru shakaishi daijiten
新聞集成明治編年史 = Shinbun shūsei Meiji hennenshi
新聞集成大正編年史 = Shinbun shūsei Taishō hennenshi
新聞集成昭和編年史 = Shinbun shūsei Shōwa hennenshi
日本初期新聞全集=Nihon shoki shinbun shusei
幕末・明治初期雑誌目次集覧

Japan Studies: Newspapers

Japanese Newspapers in English

Guides and databases for finding newspapers

Full Text Databases for Japanese Newspapers

Japanese American Newspapers & Journals

Compiled newspaper columns by period, year and event

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