A quiet but historic shift is underway in Japan’s newspaper industry as a slew of publishers recently announced plans to stop for the foreseeable future their Saturday evening editions.
Starting in August, the Asahi Shimbun, Mainichi Shimbun, Tokyo Shimbun and Sankei Shimbun will all discontinue their Saturday evening editions, marking a significant contraction in the country’s traditional print media offerings.
The move comes as the industry grapples with structural challenges — including a dwindling workforce of newspaper sales staff and delivery drivers — and increased pressure to support work-life balance, reform working hours for writers and editors, along with price hikes for papers.
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