Mainichi Shimbun Digital Archive

The oldest existing Japanese daily newspaper

The Mainichi Shimbun (毎⽇新聞, Daily News) is the oldest existing Japanese daily newspaper with a history spanning over 140 years. It continues to be one of the most important daily newspapers in Japan today. Dramatic and fundamental changes were taking place in Japan during the Meiji era (1868-1912) when reforms were implemented in education, economics, the military, foreign relations, and politics. During these transformative years, two newspapers were established: the Tokyo Nichi Nichi Shimbun (東京日日新聞) in 1872, and the Osaka Nippo (大 阪日報) in 1876. The two papers merged in 1911 and were placed under the Mainichi Shimbun masthead in 1943.

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Mainichi Shimbun

Key Stats

  • Archive: 1872-present
  • Language: Japanese
  • City: Chiyoda, Tokyo
  • Country: Japan
  • Frequency: Daily
  • Format: full text and some full image
  • Producer: G-Search, Ltd.
  • Platform: G-Search, Ltd.

About the Archive

The Maisaku database provides access to over 6 million articles from Mainichi Shimbun since 1872 to present and the Mainichi Weekly Economist from 1989. Newspaper images from 1989 to 1999 are in flash format, which include features like page turning, scaling, bookmarking, etc., as in an electronic book.

The Maisaku database is divided into the following search modules:

  • Quick Search: Full-text searching Mainichi Shimbun, 1872–present and Weekly Economist from 1989
  • Mainichi Shimbun Article Search: Advanced search
  • Full-Image Mainichi Shimbun: Browse full-image, 1872-1999
  • Mainichi Shimbun E-Edition: Browse the full-image, flash version, 1989-1999
  • Weekly Economist article search
  • Today’s News: News, updated twice daily. Read news from past week
  • Breaking News: Updated every 10-20 minutes. Read news from past week

140+ years of Japanese history, in one archive

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More About Mainichi Shimbun

In addition, users of the Maisaku online database gain access to the following supplementary content:

  • The Mainichi (English-language publication of Mainichi Shimbun, June 2008-present, full-text only)
  • Mainichi Opinion Polls (毎日ヨロンサーチ, Mainichi Yoron Sāchi): The only newspaper poll database in Japan. More than 360 polls conducted since 1945 are included in this database.
  • “2,001 Major Events of the 20th Century”: A selection of over 2,000 major events, as described in series of articles published by Mainichi Shimbun over 100 years)
  • Mainichi Shimbun History (毎日新聞社史): History of the development of Mainichi Shimbun as a publication and a company

Related Resources

The Japan Times Digital Archive
Renmin Ribao Digital Archive
Shen Bao Digital Archive

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