Sales 2023: JPY 619.097 billion (€ 4.073 billion)

Overview

At the heart of the Asahi Shimbun Company is the left-liberal Asahi Shimbun ("Morning Sun Newspaper"), founded in Osaka in 1879, the world's second-largest daily newspaper by circulation – behind the Yomiuri Shimbun (ranked 45th in the IfM ranking). The media group also owns the TV Asahi broadcaster, other publications, the advertising agency Asako, and the real estate company Asahi Building Co.

To classify Asahi Shimbun in the IfM ranking, we refer to the revenue figures available for TV Asahi and Asahi Shimbun for the 2023 financial year (April 1, 2022 – March 31, 2023) and to the revenue figures for Asahi Advertising, which are only available for 2018.

An updated, complete company profile will be published shortly.

General Information

Headquarters:
Asahi Shimbun
5-3-2 Tsukiji, Chuo-ku
Tokyo 104-8011
Japan
Telephone: 0081 3 5540 7595
website: asahi.com/corporate/english

TV Asahi
6-9-1 Roppongi, Minato-ku
Tokyo 106-8001
Japan
Telephone 0081 3 6406 1111
Website:  company.tv-asahi.co.jp/e/index.html

industryn: newspapers, magazines, book publishers, television stations, satellite TV, music publishers, advertising
legal form: Private Company
fiscal year: 01.04. – 31.03.
founding year: 1879 

Basic economic data (amounts in million ¥)*

	2023	2022	2021	2020	2019
Sales Asahi Shimbun Company	267.031	nn	272.473	nn	353.608
Revenue TV Asahi Holdings	304.566	298.276	264.557	293.638	301.744
Asahi Advertising revenue	47.500	47.500	47.500	47.500	47.500

* The financial year begins on April 1st of the previous year and ends on March 31st.

Executives and Directors

• Shiro Nakamura, President and CEO
• Katsuhide Konishi, Chief Print Media Business Officer
• Takashi Horie, Chief Strategy Officer, Corporate Group & Broadcasting Network Manager
• Katsu Tsunoda, Chief Content and Digital Policy Officer, Executive Editor
• Jun Okamoto, Chief Governance and Human Resources Officer, Administration, Personnel, Compliance
• Reiko Horikoshi, Chief Business Officer, Product Development, Events Strategy
• Gaku Shinji, Chief Organization Reform Officer, Chief Regional Officer for West Japan, Representative of Osaka Head Office, Real Estate
• Tatsuya Kanayama, Chief Customer Development and Data Strategy Officer, Publishing Business

History and Profile

The cradle of the Asahi Shimbun was in Osaka, a city of merchants and for centuries Japan's economic metropolis. This was where Ryohei Murayama ran a trading business. At the request of his friend Heihachi Kimura, he became the pro forma owner of a newspaper founded by Kimura and his son Noboru, called the Asahi Shimbun, which first appeared on January 25, 1879. The following year, Riichi Ueno joined them. In 1881, Murayama and Ueno acquired all rights from the Kimuras and from then on ran the newspaper as co-owners in a two-to-one ratio; the two families remain the main owners of the Asahi to this day. Murayama and Ueno transformed the tabloid into an easily readable and influential newspaper. Within four years, circulation rose from 1,000 to 20,000 copies. In 1888, they acquired the Mezamashi Shimbun in Tokyo and restructured it into the Tokyo Asahi Shimbun. After the merger of the two newspapers in 1908, the family business was transformed into a corporation in 1919. Murayama became president of the company and held the position until his death in 1933. Ueno had already died in 1919.

Politically, the Asahi has often criticized the government or the military, which did not always serve it well. Its coverage of the so-called Rice Riots of 1918 led to a suspension in Osaka and criminal proceedings for violating press law. Several editorial staff members were imprisoned, and Murayama was ambushed by right-wing radicals and temporarily stepped back from his position. The later transformation into a public limited company also served to facilitate his return to the top of the company. During a military coup in February 1936, the insurgents occupied the Asahi editorial office in Tokyo and demolished the premises. The newspaper had criticized the increasing militarization of politics and the conquest of Manchuria by the military without a political mandate. However, the Asahi Shimbun was soon no longer able to resist the growing power of the military and, like the other newspapers still licensed to publish, served as a propaganda tool during the World War. To assume responsibility for this, the publishing house's management and editorial staff resigned soon after Japan's surrender. In the wake of the postwar wave of democratization, the editorial team and publishing house elected their own leadership until the co-owners returned to management in 1951.

Also in 1951, with financial and personnel support from the local Asahi, a regional radio station for western Japan, "Asahi Hoso KK," was founded in Osaka, known in English as the "Asahi Broadcasting Corporation" (ABC). In 1956, ABC expanded into television. In 1961, Asahi Hoso AG shares were listed on the Osaka Stock Exchange. In 1959, with the help of the local Asahi Shimbun, a radio station was also founded in Tokyo, initially as an educational station under a different name. In 1973, the station gave up educational broadcasting, acquired a general broadcasting license, and since 1977 has operated under the name "Zenkoku Asahi Hoso KK," or "Asahi National Broadcasting Co. Ltd." (ANB). The station uses "Terebi Asahi" (TV Asahi) as the Japanese abbreviation for its name. ABC and ANB are both part of the nationwide network "All-Nippon News Network" (ANN). In 2000, TV Asahi shares were listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange.

The Asahi Shimbun expanded the collaboration between newspapers and broadcasters, primarily through the use of satellite technology. Investments in Asahi Newstar and two other broadcasters secured access to communications satellites (CS). For broadcast satellites (BS), Asahi Broadcasting Satellite Co. (BS Asahi or BSA) was founded in 1998 and began broadcasting in December 2000.

management

Shiro Nakamura is now at the helm of the Asahi Shimbun Company, not least because he helped the newspaper regain credibility. In 2014, the media company was forced to retract three major stories: articles published since 1982 by journalist Seiji Yoshida, who claimed to have participated in the alleged kidnapping of 200 forced prostitutes during World War II; a demonstrably false report that employees at the Fukushima nuclear power plant had left their posts prematurely during the reactor disaster; and a fabricated interview with the CEO of Nintendo. Nakamura, who had previously been political editor and head of the international news desk, was subsequently appointed "Public Editor," an ombudsman who scrutinized journalistic practices at Asahi.

Business segments

The Asahi Shimbun's business activities include newspapers, magazines and books; television and radio; printing and transmission; distribution and advertising; cultural activities such as the operation of the 18 Asahi Cultural Centers (a type of private adult education center); management and support of the numerous Asahi properties; insurance; travel and tourism; and social facilities and services. 

print
The newspaper group's activities are divided into approximately 190 subsidiaries and cooperating organizations at home and abroad. With a daily circulation of approximately 8.12 million copies, the Asahi Shimbun is the second-largest daily newspaper in Japan and the world.
Other important publications include the sports newspaper Nikkan Sports News, the local newspaper Kanagawa Shimbun in Yokohama (daily circulation: approximately 230,000 copies), and the student newspaper Asahi Gakusei Shimbun. Around 50 foreign correspondents report for the Asahi Shimbun from 31 locations. 

Television
In the broadcasting sector, TV Asahi (ANB) and its partner stations in the ANN network maintain approximately 25 studios or correspondent offices worldwide. Among the 25 private broadcasters belonging to the ANN network, TV Asahi is the largest company. The second-largest partner in the ANN network is Asahi Hoso (ABC) in Osaka. 

On-line
Under the Asahi Interactive umbrella, the company brings together online brands with a wide reach, including CNET Japan, ZDNet Japan, Techrepublic Japan, and CNN's Japanese website. Asahi also operates the Japanese version of HuffPost.

Current developments

Despite being one of the main sponsors, the Asahi Shimbun Company called for the definitive cancellation of the Tokyo Summer Olympics in May 2021. The Games were originally scheduled to take place in 2020 but had been postponed for a year due to the coronavirus pandemic. Asahi was the only major media company in Japan to oppose the plans of the controversial Suga administration. Holding the Games, the Asahi Shimbun stated in an editorial, was irresponsible and that the Olympic Committee was ignoring the wishes of the Japanese people. 

However, canceling the Games, which were ultimately held behind closed doors, would have caused financial losses of approximately $17 billion. Critics, cited by the Asahi Shimbun, assumed that the economic damage would have been many times greater if a coronavirus outbreak had occurred during the Games and a subsequent lockdown had been imposed.