NIKKEI | MEDIA DATA 2008

Unique Positioning of Newspapers in Japan

The Japanese newspaper market has a number of distinguishing characteristics. Not only do newspapers in Japan boast the largest circulation in the world and offer a wealth of information, they also have clear advantages over other advertising media.

Newspapers in Japan

According to the 2006 issue of WAN (World Press Trends), Japan had the largest total number of newspapers issued on a daily basis. Japan also had the largest number of newspapers per 1,000 people among the major industrialized countries. Another special characteristic of Japan's newspapers is the significantly high number of copies per paper, due to the number of national daily newspapers with circulations in the millions.

Morning and Afternoon Editions

Unlike national daily newspapers published in the U.S., Europe and other countries, most Japanese dailies-like the Nikkei-have morning and afternoon editions. In today's fast changing world, these meet readers' needs for the very latest news coverage.
　 The first printing of the Nikkei afternoon edition is delivered to securities companies at around 12:30 p.m., with copies reaching other business sectors at 3:30-4:00 p.m. and suburban households at around 5:00 p.m.

Advertising in Newspapers

Expenditures on advertising in newspapers account for 16.7 percent of total advertising expenditures in Japan. This rate is the highest among print media.
　　The Nikkei is known as the most effective medium for disseminating corporate brands, corporate social responsibility (CSR) and investor relations advertising, and is considered a vital advertising medium in those categories.

Advertising expenditures by media category

Advertising expenditures (billion yen)

Newspaper	998.6
Magazine	388.7
Radio	174.4
Television	2,016.1
*Subtotal* (4 major media)	3,577.8
Sales Promotion	2,000.2
Internet	363.0
Satellite Media-Related	54.4
*Total*	5,995.4

Source: Dentsu:2006 Advertising Expenditures in Japan

High Subscription Rate

Japan has a high newspaper subscription rate due to its efficient home-delivery system, with over 90 percent of papers being delivered in this way. Further contributing factors include Japan's very high literacy rate and the general enthusiasm for reading newspapers on a daily basis.

Ratio of subscription by delivery

Source: Japan Newspaper Publishers and Editors Association 2006

Newspaper circulation and penetration rate by country

	No. of copies per 1,000 people	Circulation (1,000 copies)	No. of newspapers

Japan	634.5	69,763	108

U.S.	249.9	53,345	1,452

Sweden	583.4	4,368	94
Denmark	442.9	1,946	31
U.K.	369.1	17,494	112
The Netherlands	351.7	4,676	37
Austria	339.2	2,323	18
Germany	305.2	21,543	368
Ireland	272.8	890	10
France	215.3	10,532	85
Belgium	194.7	1,684	30
Italy	156.1	7,839	94
Spain	113.3	4,200	139
Portugal	95.2	791	17
Greece	67.4	593	34

Source: WAN (World Press Trends 2006)

Reading Habits

A comparison of newspaper and magazine reading frequency reveals that newspaper readers have a much higher reading frequency, with 82 percent reading a newspaper daily on a continuing basis. This means much greater exposure of advertising to newspaper readers.

Newspaper reading habits

Source: Japan Newspaper Publishers and Editors Association 2006


Business magazine reading habits



Source: The Nikkei Corporate Image Survey (Businesspeople) 2006