The largest right-wing newspaper published for about 10 years before the War was found

Recently NHK News On-line reported the following:

戦前最大の右派新聞 約10年分見つかる

2019年8月9日 5時48分

昭和初期に発行され、戦前、最大の右派メディアとも呼ばれた日刊紙、「日本新聞」の紙面、およそ10年間分がほぼ完全な形で残されていたことが分かりました。

これまで多くが失われたとされていて、日本が戦争へと向かっていった道筋を解き明かす貴重な資料として研究者の間で注目を集めています。

見つかったのは、大正14年から昭和10年まで発行されていた日刊紙、「日本新聞」です。

元総理大臣、平沼騏一郎が設立した団体の、資料の収蔵庫に保管されていたもので、創刊から休刊するまでの10年間、およそ3000日分の紙面がほぼ完全な形で残されていました。

日本新聞は、発行部数およそ１万6000部と多くはないものの、政官財に幅広い読者を持ち、戦前最大の右派メディアとして右派思想を広めたとされていましたが、現在は多くが失われ、初期の数年間については内容もほとんど知られていませんでした。

紙面は見開き４ページで、創刊号には編集方針として天皇中心の国家体制を絶対のものにする「日本主義」と呼ばれる思想が掲げられています。見出しには「共産主義の致命的欠陥」や「赤化売国派を掃蕩せよ」などの激しいことばが並んでいます。

日本は、昭和の初めから急速に国家主義的な風潮が広がったとされていますが、日本新聞を詳しく分析することで当時の言論や思想の移り変わりをひもとく手がかりになると期待されています。

日本の近代思想史が専門の京都大学大学院の福家崇洋 准教授は「記事を分析することで、大正デモクラシーで自由をおう歌していたはずの日本社会がどのように変化していったのか、クリアに把握できるはずだ」と話しています。

日本新聞とは

「日本新聞」は、大正から昭和初期にかけて司法大臣や鉄道大臣を務めた政治家、小川平吉が大正14年に創刊しました。当時、気鋭の国粋主義者や民族主義者らが社説や記事を執筆し、およそ１万6000部が発行されました。

創刊の際には、支持者としてのちに総理大臣を務める近衛文麿や東条英機など政治家や軍人、財界トップらが名前を連ね、当時の右派メディアの中では異例の日刊紙として国の中枢から地方の有力者まで幅広い支援者、読者を獲得していました。

日本新聞は10年間にわたっておよそ3000日分が発行され、昭和10年に休刊となりました。残された紙面は戦争中に多くが焼失したほか、戦後は右派メディアへの厳しい風当たりなどから失われてしまい、現在は後半のおよそ５年分しか見つかっていませんでした。

Translation

 Established before the war in the early Showa era, a daily newspaper being called the largest right-wing media, the Nihon Shimbun newspaper, covering a period of about ten years, was found being left behind in an almost intact form.

Up to now most of this newspaper had been lost, and it was attracting attention among researchers as a valuable resource to unravel the path on Japan heading for war.

What was found was the Nihon Shimbun, a daily newspaper published from Taisho 14th to Showa 10th.

It was kept in the material collection of a group established by former Prime Minister Shinichiro Hiranuma; about 3,000 days of paper were left in an almost intact form, covering from the first publication to its suspension in the 10th year.

The Nihon Shimbun, which had a daily circulation of merely about 16,000 copies, had a wide readership among politicians, business leaders and bureaucrats. Now most of the copies were lost. It was said that as the largest right-wing media before the War, it spread the right-wing thoughts. Little was known about its content in its first few years.

The newspaper had four pages, and the first issue had an editorial policy called “Japanese-ism” that made the Emperor-centric state system an absolute one. The headline was lined with violent words such as “a fatal flaw of communism” and “cleaning up the Sovietized traitors”.

Japan was said to have developed a nationalistic trend rapidly since the beginning of the Showa period, but it was expected that analyzing the Nihon Shimbun in detail would provide a clue to the change in speech and thought at that time.

Associate professor Takahiro Fukuya of Kyoto University Graduate School who was specializing in the history of modern thought in Japan said, “By analyzing the articles, you should be able to clearly see how the Japanese society which should have been singing for freedom at the Taisho Democracy was changed. "

About Nihon Shimbun

The Nihon Shimbun was first published in Taisho 14^th year by a politician who had served as the Justice Minister and also the Minister of Railways from the Taisho to the early Showa period. At the time, high spirit ultra-nationalists​ and nationalists wrote editorials and articles, and the newspaper had a circulation of  about 16,000 copies.

At the time of the first publication those who began as supporters later became politicians and soldiers such as Konoe Bunji and Hideki Tojo who later served as the prime minister and linked up with the names of top people in the business world. And from the center of right-wing media of the country at that time, as an unusual daily newspaper, it reached prominent local people and had a wide range of supporters and readers.

The Nihon Shimbun was published for approximately 3,000 days spanned over a period of 10 years and was suspended in 1945. Most of the newspaper left behind were burned during the war; and after the war it was lost due to the harsh winds towards the right-wing media, and currently only the paper’s last five years existed.

     So, the finding will help Japanese historians see how Japan, which had been embracing freedom during the Taisho period, suddenly developed into a fascist state in the Showa period.