The copper country evening news. [volume] (Calumet, Mich.) 18??-1907, 1896-11-14
NEWSPAPERS IN Japan
ono CITY Has Twenty-Three Dallics.
and fifty.slx Magazine.

~ mas f"enty-rhree DaIlies.
and fifty.slx Magazines.
In one Of my conversations with tho
prime minister he observed to me: 1T
is unfortunate for us that we nave no
paper IKE your leading morning Jour-
mas and what Ia even more unfortu-
nate Is that We have no public opinion
IN controlling our press as you have.
but II you wish to write upon the Jour
nalism or Japan you should 20 and
nee my friend, Capt. Brinkley. the edi.
TOR OF the Japan Daily Mail. No one
can give you better information on the
subject than he can" To Capt. Brink
icy, therefore, went. As he is enter
Ing upon his thirtieth year of residence
In Japan, in which country he began
US teacher of strategy and ma.he-
matics in the naval college, which he
Quilted after ten years of hard work.
10 become the editor of the important
semi-ofiicial English paper which he
conducts with great ability and on
original lines of his own, and as he
Is Intimately connected in many WAYS
with the land of his adoption. he. bet
ter than any one else. was qualified to
give me the information | sought
The increase in Japanese journalism"
he said, rs marvellous; but | fear the
Improvement Is rather in quantity than
in quality When | first came hero.
thirty years ago, there were not more
IMAM twenty papers in the whole coun-
try, and they of the most wretched de-
scription. Now we have S02 newspa-
pers and magazines, with total year.
ly circulation of 27S,157,421 copies.
Here in Toxic alone we have twenty
three dailies. with an annual circula-
ton of 1S4,S04,729 and fifty-six maya
zines, issuing 4,S65,999 copies yearly.
The chief dailies are the Nichi SHIN
bum !. e., the Daily News, which ought
to interest you specially" he added
with smile. land the Jill Shimpo,
which is edited by Fukuzawa, one Of
the finest men in Japan to-day. He
also keeps a large school, in which
have been educated many of our lead
ing statesmen. These two papers have
daily circulation of 10000 each and
are very influential.
There is no public opinion as we
understand 1t in Japan. The one dis
tinct trait in the Japanese character is
never to interfere with your neighbor,
nfrb hr in
for the grossest American forms Of
personal attack on individuals. yet the
tendency of the people attacked is sim
ply to ignore it altogether 4 want Of
moral fiber is part OF the national char
acter. Rumor never lasts more than
seventy days is proverb with them,
and so the papers with impunlty insult
public characters and never really get
the sense Of their duty to the public.
They become, therefore, absolutely ir-
responsible. Then another unfortu-
nate feature Is that editorial superyi-
sion. as we understand it in England,
Is unknown. The editor does his spe-
cal work, but he exercises no supervi-
sion over the rest. the consequence be-
ing that the most shocking and i'm
possible personal paragraphs are in
serted all this being the result of alb
solute irresponsibility and lack OF re-
straining public opinion No. the in
| teryiew is not popular, nor when 1t Is
attempted is it in any way success,
for inaccuracy and deliberate misstate-
ment is the rule rather than the ex-
ception. You see. the truth is, they
can not afford to pay good men. The
reporters are improving somewhat
Formerly they were not even recog-
nized as belonging TO respectable So
ciety. At present men who have grad
mated from the principal private
schools and failed TO get official ap-
pointments go in for journalism, and
are paid from $50 to f40 year as sub
editors. This applies TO the general
run of papers. not to the four or five
which are good properties, paying the
proprietors from $1,000 to $4,000 a
wear after paying editors and stan
fairly we'll Want of money, want OF
public appreciation, keeps the paper
world sadly in arrears. There Is not
single Japanese paper which has a
service of foreign kilograms, and the
kilograms in your paper are horribly
extensive. Nevertheless, the power or
the press grows daily, and the leading
criticize ;s Az much or more of feature
even than it is in England. Toxic
correspondence Of London News.