Journalism in Japan

    
     Here are some basic statistics on how large the news structure is in Japan and which companies play a pivotal role in the disbursement of the news. According to  World Press Encyclopedia , Japan is one of the more literate countries on the planet with a literacy rate exceeding 99%. The country is home to over 100 daily newspapers and 5 national newspapers. Although over 47 million people have access to the internet in Japan, the newspapers of the country continue to be widely read.
   The Japanese news system seems to be very similar to that of the one present in the United States with the exception that there seems to be one ruling voice when it comes to the voice of the paper. Unlike the US, Japanese papers portray a unity in their political stances. The five national newspapers rely heavily on their own content where as the smaller daily papers use international wire stories. Because of this practice by the larger papers and the Japanese people's curiosity of the outside world it is not uncommon for Japanese readers to opt for foreign news sources rather than a local one.
     The government plays a large role in the dissemination of Japanese news. Currently there are only two news agencies in Japan, Kyoto and Jiji. Both compete with each other and are comprised of multiple newspapers and radio/ television outlets. Japan has roughly 300 radio stations and 7,000 television stations but its the internet that is the fastest growing information outlet for the Japanese. In using the internet to aquire news, the people of Japan have a larger choice of sources including online english versions of their indigenous papers.