Compiled with the help of Yasuomi Sawa, Journalist, Kyodo News and former Reuters Institute Journalist Fellow.

The media landscape in Japan has long been characterised by strong newspapers with large circulations, along with five country-wide networks of television including the licence fee-funded public broadcaster NHK. However, with traditional readership falling publishers are exploring ways of embracing digital.

Top Brands

Changing Media

Traditional forms of media such as TV and print have declined rapidly over the last seven years. Newspaper readership has almost halved. Japanese engage with online news primarily through aggregators like Yahoo! News. They also tend to use social networks less, and have taken longer to fully embrace smartphones.

Trust

Fewer than four in ten (37%) trust the news in Japan – a fall of around ten percentage points in the last five years. Public broadcaster NHK remains the most trusted news brand while popular magazines (Weekly Shincho, Weekly Bunshun) which have a reputation for gossip and sensationalism are least trusted – along with some digital-born brands.