HAKODATE, Hokkaido -- Lacking a thing or two can sometimes have a positive side. A freshly born newspaper in Hakodate is in the works of proving it.

The Hakodate Shimbun, which started up in January, is an evening paper serving areas in and around Hakodate, Hokkaido's third largest city with a population of 297,391. Currently staffed with 18 reporters, the 16-page paper has about 38,000 subscribers at a subscription rate of 1,800 yen a month. Its articles are mostly bylined -- an unusual practice for a Japanese paper -- covering local economic, social and administrative news in detail.

At a glance, the Hakodate Shimbun seems to have what it takes to make a substantial city paper. But it lacks two things many other papers have: membership in the local press club and a wire service subscription.