Yomiuri Shimbun - History

History

The Yomiuri was launched in 1876 by the Nisshusha newspaper company as a small daily newspaper. Throughout the 1880s and 1890s the paper came to be known as a literary arts publication with its regular inclusion of work by writers such as Ozaki Kōyō.

In 1924, Shoriki Matsutaro took over management of the company. His innovations included sensational news coverage, a full-page radio program guide, and the establishment of Japan's first professional baseball team (now known as the Yomiuri Giants).

The emphasis of the paper shifted to broad news coverage aimed at readers in the Tokyo area. By 1941 it had the largest circulation of any daily newspaper in the Tokyo area. In 1942, under wartime conditions, it merged with the Hochi Shimbun and became known as the Yomiuri-Hochi.

In February 2009, tie-up with The Wall Street Journal for edit, printing and distribution, then from March the major news headlines of the WSJ's Asian edition are summarized in the evening edition in Japanese.

The Yomiuri has a history of promoting nuclear power within Japan. During the 1950s Matsutaro Shoriki, the head of the Yomiuri, agreed to use his newspaper to promote nuclear power in Japan for the CIA. In May 2011, when Japanese prime minister Naoto Kan requested Chubu Electric Power Company to shut down several of its Hamaoka Nuclear Power Plants due to safety concerns, the Yomiuri responded with criticism, calling the move "abrupt" and a difficult situation for Chubu Electric's shareholders. It wrote Kan "should seriously reflect on the way he made his request." It then followed up with an article wondering about how dangerous Hamaoka really was and called Kan's request "a political judgment that went beyond technological worthiness." The next day damage to the pipes inside the condenser was discovered at one of the plants following a leak of seawater into the reactor.