Weekly magazines in Japan

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The term {{nihongo|shūkanshi|週刊誌||{{lit|weekly magazine}}|lead=yes}} generally refers to weekly magazines published in Japan, including politically provocative weekly tabloid newspapers.

As noted by Watanabe and Gamble in the Japan Media Review and in their book A Public Betrayed, the genre is "often described as bizarre blends of various types of U.S. magazines, such as Newsweek, The New Yorker, People, Penthouse, and The National Enquirer{{-"}}.{{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|date=1 July 2004|publisher=Regnery Pub.|isbn=978-0-89526-046-8}}{{rp|71}}

In Japan, weekly magazines have been a source of antisemitic articles, including Shukan Bunshun, Marco Polo, and Shukan Shincho, which have repeatedly published articles denying the Holocaust.{{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|date=1 July 2004|publisher=Regnery Pub.|isbn=978-0-89526-046-8}}{{rp|170}} Such magazines have also been hotbeds of articles that disparage neighboring countries, especially South Korea,{{cite news |title=Editorial: Japanese weekly magazine's anti-S. Korea feature totally out of order |url=https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20190904/p2a/00m/0na/010000c |newspaper=Mainichi Daily News |date=September 4, 2019}} as well as invasions of privacy towards celebrities; for instance, Bubka (which has since transitioned into a general Japanese idol magazine){{cite web |title=《90年代アイドルを震撼させた月刊誌『BUBKA（ブブカ）』》の創刊編集長が急死していた　スキャンダル写真で物議「スクープ100万円」「複数訴訟」の全盛期 |url=https://www.news-postseven.com/archives/20240523_1965795.html |website=News Post Seven |access-date=14 March 2025 |language=Japanese |date=25 May 2024|trans-title=Founding editor-in-chief of monthly magazine Bubka that shocked idols in the 90s has died; magazine faced multiple lawsuits, offered 1 million yen for scandalous photos in its heydays}} was involved in a lawsuit for their 2002 publication of unauthorized childhood photos of several female idols.{{cite web|url=http://www.tokyograph.com/news/id-3924|title=Court rules on Bubka appeal case|date=October 16, 2008|publisher=Tokyograph|access-date=10 February 2010}} Shukan Shincho was ordered by the Supreme Court of Japan to pay damages to a Soka Gakkai member for publishing an unsubstantiated allegation of murder,{{cite web|title=Overview of Case|url=http://www.3justice.com/shirayama/index.shtml |publisher=www.3justice.com |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070805081322/http://www.3justice.com/shirayama/index.shtml |archive-date=2007-08-05}} and has been criticized for sensationalistic stories regarding a disputed Paleolithic settlement site in Japan.[http://www.t-net.ne.jp/~keally/Hoax/shincho090300.html "Comments on: Shukan Shincho, March 9, 2000: Can the '500,000-Year-Old Site' Really Be Believed?"] The magazine has also been rebuked for publishing the names and photographs of minors who have been accused of criminal acts, even before their trials began.{{Cite web|url=http://www.japantoday.com/category/crime/view/magazine-publishes-name-photo-of-kawasaki-murder-suspect|title=Magazine publishes name, photo of Kawasaki murder suspect|date=6 March 2015 }} Women-oriented magazines have also been known to publish critical or speculatory articles pertaining to the Japanese imperial family, in defiance of the chrysanthemum taboo.{{cite web |last1=Brasor |first1=Philip |title=Tabloids in Japan unafraid to question Imperial scandals |url=https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2018/09/01/national/media-national/tabloids-japan-unafraid-question-imperial-scandals/ |website=The Japan Times |access-date=March 13, 2025 |date=September 1, 2018}}