The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1906-11-04
NEWSPAPER MAKING IN JAPAN
rHB JAPANESE WRITERS LOT
NOT AN EASY ONE.


nHDeT nv NC"1p1pNh -
Now q Necessity In japanese Life.
70 become a journalist in Japan some
n;rtv wears ago was a sad accident or a
-,sre curiosity. One might stray into
ionrnsllsm involuntarily after making
.sevsn falls and eight rises in hfe,' while
.,o,hev regarded journalism as a harmless
racrsat!on. The former openly acknowl-
.dved himself to be one Of the educated
Mob and the latter looked supremely upon
hs own work as far beyond money and
livelihood
In those days the greater part OF the
.aucatad people were immensely proud
n being impractical. Thus unbusinees-
NJ. our Japanese journalism started It's
c.reer and thus unbusinesslike il is remain
ing to-day.
The story Of American journalism and
journalists would make Japanese cape
nom wonder and unapproachableness. A
thousand things are behind the times,
logging along slowly, however comfort
.blv. II eighteenth century fashion, and
journalism is one OF them surely.
But the China-Japan wal gave to our
journalism a sudden impetus. The circula-
non OF the papers increased in al astonish-
ing measure and vet il is shabby and hope
less in comparison with hat Of the American
oapers How ever, the fact that the paper
has become a necessity Of life dates from
those days.
Our Japanese papers are limited to the
morning papers. Why2 The world is
wheeling rather slowly in the Far East
and the reople can wait patiently to hear
the news until tomorrow morning. And
----k,lo eba- mill NoaA AWAY aAroahoIxySa
serial story.
You can fully understand now the degree
Of slowness Of the Japanese papers, since
their space could not be filed without av-
ing one or two serial stories. FANCY
We read the serial stories at the breakfast
table. IL must sound perfectly ridiculous
10 the American people.
And above everything; the Japanese
psrers are terribly poor. To begin with.
there are only a few business men in the
Office We used TO see one or half a column
for the foreign kilograms, but to-day we have
four or FIVE columns for them. So it was
when Nsnchuria and Corea were the centre
Of the worldly struggle. But the American
papers are almost covered with kilograms.
foreign or domestic.
And the Japanese papers seem at the
outset TO be unable to exist without asking
help Of the Government. In Japan. listen,
the Government is first and last. She is
e~xtravagantly managed for poor Japan,
and she can AFFORD to pay for the kilograms
Of the worlds news.
II is a strange phenomenon that every
Japanese paper hurries TO he Foreign
Office for the foreign new that can be
spared. And the officers will be bright
enough not TO give any news ~disadvanta-
geous TO the Government. Tut, tuti Where
Is the very dignity Of journalism
II j. true that the masses are not eager
70 read the worlds news when they have
no immediate concern for their own in
terest. And they would rather take up
a cup of tea han a newspaper. ] often
noticed the men reading in the Sixth avenue
elevated in New York and said that one
Who read a morning paper at II O'Clock
was a stupid sight. But here in Toxic l
say it is quite comfortable TO see the people
reading the morning paper under the lamp
light. Alas, 1 am thrown in a Sleepy
Fl llowl
To-day every man in every line OF bust
ness ia busily talking about how to adjust
and advance the national affairs.
we must make the newspaper the
world new spaper. not merely a Japanese
parer, the equal Of an American paper
the new spaper publishers are crying.
Very g1odl The idea is a capital one.
Where's the business manager to handle
your paper, ! will ask. Business! And
only BUSINESS The publishers as well
a. the journalists have To learn about it.
Yes, some newspaper publishers under
stand it perfectly. The Osaka MIiqichi,
the osaka As1hi and the ROchi of Toxic.
which are c~leverly managed by thorough
business men, are comparatively prosperous.
Their circulation is estimated TO he a little
moe than enc hundred thousand. The
Jji i reapinr honor bUt not circulation.
However, the Jill, which was established
by the late Fukusawa, the a OF Mita.
as we say, is living up to its reputation,
and to-day il is managed wisely by his two
sons. Its chief editor or editorial writer is
Mr. kanmef Ishikawa, a graduate Of the
Keiogijilau, the college which Mr.. Fukusawa
established some forty years ago. and his
lofty and even style OF writing is said
somewhere to be akin with that OF the great
Mita sage. By the way / was once a student
Of that college, and there ! arm giving leo
lures on the American poets and poems
to-day.
there is nobody more miserably paid
than the Japanese newspaper man. Re-
member, the Japanese papers we're not
started as a business undertaking. And
even to-day, when some Of them get no
small proAt in fact, the publishers will
smile slightly and say that the rarest thing
! the Office is money. Beware Of the Japa-
reese publishers. | dare say, as Of the Amer
lean ones.
And they will complain that they have
a useless thousand boys i. the editorial
rooms. However, 10 keep them costs hardly
ANYTHING We can have a well practised
newspaper mar for 90 yen SI5 in American
money, and to have SO yen salary oEe
must nave a reputation in his own circle.
In the japanese journalism tie editC rial
writer's are the most important things, and
they are show pieces. They will get SC
thing between 100 and $50 yen generally.
How many are there in all Toxic? Some
papers cannot al orc eI en- one such man
and the very well established papers do
not keep more thnn two men.
And those gentlemen have heavy ex-
E.AnLAa - II