Shūkan Shinchō
{{Short description|Japanese weekly news magazine}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2023}}
{{Infobox magazine
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| image_file = Shūkan Shinchō first issue.jpg
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| image_caption = Cover of the first issue of Shūkan Shinchō (19 February 1956)
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| category = News magazine
| frequency = Weekly
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| founded = 1956
| firstdate = 19 February 1956
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| company = Shincho-sha
| country = Japan
| based = Tokyo
| language = Japanese
| website = [http://www.shinchosha.co.jp/shukanshincho/ Shukan Shincho]
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{{Nihongo|Shūkan Shinchō|週刊新潮}} is a Japanese conservative{{cite book|editor1=J. A. Mangan|editor2=Sandra Collins|editor3=Gwang Ok|title=The Triple Asian Olympics - Asia Rising: The Pursuit of National Identity, International Recognition and Global Esteem|year=2018|publisher=Routledge|isbn=9781135714192|pages=2309–2322|location=London; New York}} weekly news magazine based in Tokyo, Japan. It is considered one of the most influential weekly magazines in the country and is the first Japanese weekly magazine founded by a publishing company which does not own a major newspaper.{{cite book|author=Sean Mooney|title=5,110 Days in Tokyo and Everything's Hunky-dory: The Marketer's Guide to Advertising in Japan|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Fkt8CkTejUAC&pg=PA118
|year=2000|publisher=Quorum Books|location=Westport, CT; London|isbn=978-1-56720-361-5|page=118}}{{cite web|title=History of Magazines in Japan: 1867-1988|url=http://www.kanzaki.com/jpress/mag-history.html|work=Kanzaki|access-date=15 September 2016|date=7 July 1996}}
History and profile
Shūkan Shinchō was first published on 19 February 1956.{{cite news|author=Mark Schreiber|title=Deja vu as Shukan Shincho turns back the clock|access-date=15 September 2016|work=The Japan Times|url=http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2016/02/20/national/media-national/deja-vu-shukan-shincho-turns-back-clock/#.V9qwBJOLQxc|date=20 February 2016}} The cover of the first issue featured an illustration by Japanese artist Rokuro Taniuchi.{{cite news|title=Vintage Cover Illustrations of Shukan Shincho by Rokuro Taniuchi|work=Spoon and Tamago|url=http://www.spoon-tamago.com/2016/02/24/vintage-cover-illustrations-of-shukan-shincho-by-rokuro-taniuchi/
|access-date=15 September 2016|date=24 February 2016}} The magazine is part of Shinchosha, which also founded it, and is published on a weekly basis. Its headquarters is in Tokyo.{{cite news|title=Magazine IDs student suspect in Nagoya slaying, breaking legal taboo|url=http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2015/02/05/national/crime-legal/magazine-ids-nagoya-student-breaking-legal-taboo/#.V9q2E5OLQxc|access-date=15 September 2016|work=The Japan Times|date=5 February 2015}}
Shūkan Shinchō is a general-news magazine, but it targets men.{{cite book|author1=Adam Gamble|author2=Takesato Watanabe
|title=A Public Betrayed: An Inside Look at Japanese Media Atrocities and Their Warnings to the West|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gKUUuK0ym_oC&pg=PA98|year=2004|publisher=Regnery Pub.|isbn=978-0-89526-046-8|page=98|location=Washington, DC}} It claims that "[its] average reader is 41.4 years old, 34.2% are white collar, and 60.9% own their own homes" and that "the majority [of its readers] are upper class, wealthy and intellectually inclined". As of 2017 Mark Schreiber, a contributing writer of The Japan Times, argued that the readers of the magazine are mostly older and retired Japanese men.{{cite news|author=Mark Schreiber|title=Magazines hold their own against TV's 'iron chefs'|work=The Japan Times|date=21 October 2017|url=https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2017/10/21/national/media-national/magazines-hold-tvs-iron-chefs/|access-date=28 November 2020}} The major competitor of the magazine is Shūkan Bunshun.{{cite news|url=https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20170517/p2a/00m/0na/013000c|title=Tabloid magazine Shukan Shincho alleges rival 'stole' scoop from upcoming ad|date=17 May 2017|access-date=28 November 2020|work=Mainichi}}
Content and political stance
{{Conservatism in Japan|Media}}
Shūkan Shinchō has a nationalistic and conservative political stance. Shūkan Shinchō and its rival Shūkan Bunshun are the only major "non-establishment" weekly news-magazines that do not feature pornography. This makes them the magazines of choice for men who want to read so-called alternative news (sources other than the major newspapers and broadcasters) but who don't want to look at, or be seen looking at, pornography. As a result, these two shūkanshi (weekly magazines) are seen as more socially acceptable to read than their rivals. The layouts of these two magazines are also of a better quality than that of their direct competitors. However, these two publications have been described as "especially egregious offenders of journalistic ethics". Shūkan Shinchō is also described as a tabloid magazine by Mainichi Shimbun, a leading Japanese daily. Shūkan Shinchō was found guilty of libel in a Tokyo court for publishing an unsubstantiated allegation of murder by a Soka Gakkai member.{{cite web|title=Overview of Case|url=http://www.3justice.com/shirayama/index.shtml|website=www.3justice.com|archive-date=5 August 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070805081322/http://www.3justice.com/shirayama/index.shtml}} The magazine was criticized in 2001 for sensationalistic stories regarding a disputed Paleolithic settlement site in Japan.{{cite news|author=Charles T. Keally|title=Can the '500,000-Year-Old Site' Really be Believed?|access-date=15 September 2016|work=Japanese Archaeology|date=12 November 2001
|url=http://www.t-net.ne.jp/~keally/Hoax/shincho090300.html}} It has also been rebuked for publishing the names and photographs of minors who have been accused of criminal acts, even before their trials began.
Circulation
From October 2014 to September 2015 Shūkan Shinchō was the ninth-best selling magazine in Japan with a circulation of 537,596 copies.{{cite web|url=http://nbakki.hatenablog.com/entry/10_Most_Printed_Magazines_2015|title=10 Most Printed Magazines in Japan, 2015|work=Hatena Blog
|access-date=15 September 2016|date=22 February 2016}}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
{{Commons}}
- {{Official website|http://www.shinchosha.co.jp/shukanshincho/}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shukan Shincho}}
Category:1956 establishments in Japan
Category:Conservative magazines
Category:Conservative media in Japan
Category:Magazines established in 1956
Category:Magazines published in Tokyo
Category:Men's magazines published in Japan