Guides: Searching Japanese Databases and Catalogs: Newspapers and News Online

News Aggregators

These websites aggregate popular news stories from a variety of sources. Some are curated by editors or users, while others are generated automatically. All are in Japanese.

Yahoo!ニュース
Yahoo!JAPAN aggregates news from all over the web on various topics, as well as articles from magazines, featured articles on "Buzz," and rankings of most popular articles.
MSN産経ニュース
MSN's news aggregator, including a Kansai edition and photo news.
Google News
Google News has a Japanese aggregator, which covers only Japanese-language news sources.
The Huffington Post 日本版
The Huffington Post, in association with the Asahi newspaper, aggregates a variety of news stories primarily on Japan, and provides this news in Japanese.
Hatena::Bookmark News はてなブックマークニュース
Hatena Boomark News allows users to share news stories, and aggregates those stories based on the number of users who have bookmarked them.

Twitter Feeds

This is a sample list of news feeds from and about Japan, but is by no means exhaustive!

@japantimes - The Japan Times
@Reuters_co_jp - Reuters.co.jp
@YahooNewsTopics - Yahoo News Topics
@47news - 47 News (Kyodo News)
@Newsweek_JAPAN - Newsweek 日本版
@asahi - 朝日新聞
@asahi_shakai - 朝日新聞社会部
@asahi_kantei - 朝日新聞官邸クラブ
(all Asahi accounts - there are many)
@nhk_news - NHK News
@nhk_seikatsu - NHK生活情報
@nhk_ohayou - Morning's news from NHK
(all NHK accounts - there are many)
@mainichijpnews - 毎日新聞ニュース速報
@mainichijpedit - 毎日新聞・デジタル編集部
@Yomiuri_Online - 読売新聞
@YahooJP_newsbiz - Yahoo!ニュース BUSINESS
@nikkeionline - 日本経済新聞電子版
@nikkei_bizdaily - 日経産業新聞
@WSJJapan - Wall Street Journal 日本版
@BloombergJapan - Bloomberg News 日本語版
@kahoku_shimpo - 河北新報ニュース
@JPN_PMO - Prime Minister's Office of Japan
@slashdotjp - Slashdot Japan
@RekishinoTabi - Japanese history and photography
@JapanThis - On Japanese history
@froginawell - Collaborative blogs on East Asian history

Japanese News Digital Archives

These databases contain mostly historical newspaper page images, spanning the Meiji period to the present in some cases. Several are Penn subscription databases and require a PennKey login.

Asahi Shinbun Cross Search for Libraries 朝日新聞クロスサーチ (Asahi Shinbun) (Penn)
Formerly known as Kikuzō Visual II, this is the largest newspaper article database in Japan, providing access to 16 million articles and advertisements from 1879 to present. Articles published since 1985 are available for full-text searching. This database provides access to articles from the magazines Aera and Shūkan Asahi; Asahi Graph (1923-1956); an English-language News Database; Who’s Who database; regional and overseas editions; and the Historical Photo Archive, which contains more than 10,000 photographs, primarily taken in Asia during the Pacific War era.
WEBRONZA (Penn)
WEBRONZA includes editorials from the Asahi newspaper written on various current topics. Resource is all in Japanese.
Yomidas Rekishikan ヨミダス歴史館 (Yomiuri Shinbun) (Penn)
Yomidas Rekishikan contains the Yomiuri newspaper in full text (page images for older issues) from its inception in the Meiji period to the present. It also includes other Yomiuri publications, translations of select current articles into English, and a biographical dictionary.
Maisaku まいさく (Mainichi Shinbun) (Penn)
This is a digital archive of the full run of Mainichi Shinbun, dating back to the 1800s and continuing to the present. No English content or interface option.
Taiyō 太陽 (Penn)
A general interest magazine from the Meiji and Taishō periods containing many literary works and reviews. Make sure you check "Taiyō 太陽" on the search after logging in.
Newspaper Clippings Collection 新聞記事文庫
The Newspaper Clippings Collection contains scrapbooks of newspaper articles dating from the early 20th century to the 1970s, held by Kobe University. It has over 500,000 articles in 3,200 volumes. This searchable and browsable database contains page images of the scrapbooks for viewing online.
Nikkei Newspapers Digital Archive 日系新聞デジタルアーカイブ
The Nikkei Newspapers Digital Archive (NNDA) is a project of the Hokubei Hochi (North American Post) Foundation and the University of Washington Libraries. Our goal is to make accessible two significant newspapers which tell the story of Japanese immigration and Japanese American community life in Seattle and beyond, from 1902 to 1950, and continuing to the present day. The newspapers, North American Times (1902-1942) and North American Post (1946-1950), were published primarily in Japanese, with occasional, and then regularly appearing, pages published in English. Translation summaries (English) are provided for some front page stories (see “Translated Front Pages”). You may search by browsing the individual issues.
Overseas Japanese Newspapers Database 海外邦字新聞データベース
A browsable database of newspapers in overseas Japanese communities. It is browsable by date but not keyword searchable.

News in Japanese

Asahi Shimbun Digital 朝日新聞デジタル
The Asahi Shimbun is one of Japan's largest and oldest newspapers. Our digital subscription includes access to full-text articles on the primary news site but does not include access to content via the Android and iOS apps. Once you click on this link, click the box that reads 朝日新聞デジタルにアクセスする in order to access the site.
Mainichi Shimbun 毎日新聞
The Mainichi Shimbun is another of Japan's largest newspapers. Our access to the daily newspaper is provided through our PressReader subscription.
NHK Online
NHK Online is the website of the news organization NHK, providing full-text news articles on Japan and the world. It also includes radio shows and TV programs such as documentaries.
NEWS WEB EASY (from NHK)
News i - TBSの動画ニュースサイト
TBS News is a good resource for non-native speakers of Japanese, with news clips and accompanying articles.
47 News
47 News is run by Kyodo News, the Japan Press Network. It provides a wide variety of coverage on Japan, including both national and regional news as well as special topics.
Kyodo News (iOS paid app)
47 News is run by Kyodo News, the Japan Press Network. It provides a wide variety of coverage on Japan, including both national and regional news as well as special topics.
YOMIURI ONLINE (読売新聞)
The Yomiuri newspaper provides some digital content related to Japanese and world news, although this is limited without a paid subscription. There is also a Yomiuri Premium service available for a fee.

English News Digital Archives

These databases contain mostly historical newspaper page images, spanning the Meiji period to the present in some cases. They are Penn subscription databases and require a PennKey login.

Japan Times Archives (Penn)
The full run of the Japan Times from the 1800s through contemporary period, keyword searchable.
Japan Chronicle (Penn)
Includes Japan Chronicle Weekly (1902-1940) and Kobe Weekly Chronicle (1900-1901).

News in English

These are a variety of online publications that provide current news on Japan in English, as well as some historical topics such as the Great East Japan Earthquake.

The Japan Times
Japan Times is the foremost English-language newspaper in and about Japan, with current articles available for free online.
NHK WORLD English
NHK World English provides English-language news content related to Japan, Asia, and the world, including articles, TV shows, and radio programs and podcasts. All can be found on their website for free. The site also includes Japanese lessons.
Kyodo News
Kyodo News provides English-language news content related to both Japan and the world, on a wide variety of topics.
Asahi Shimbun Asia & Japan Watch
Asahi Shimbun AJW provides English-language news content on Japan, with current articles and archives available for free online. It also offers an iOS app.
Asahi Shimbun AJW on iOS
This iPhone/iPad app provides English-language news content on Japan, with current articles and archives available for free.
朝日新聞デジタル English ニュース
The Asahi newspaper provides an English website with a small amount of news coverage related to Japan.
The Japan News
The Japan News is a publication of the Yomiuri newspaper providing a small amount of English-language news coverage of Japan and the world.
The Mainichi
The Mainichi is a publication of the Mainichi newspaper providing a small amount of English-language news coverage of Japan.
The Economist - Japan
The Economist weekly magazine provides coverage on Japan, including news and current events, and has a special topics section dedicated to Japan news. Many current articles can be viewed for free online.
Japan Today: Japan News and Discussion
Japan Today provides current news on Japan, including politics, crime national news, entertainment, sports, business, and more.
Al Jazeera English - Japan
Al Jazeera English has archived its coverage of the March 11, 2011 disasters and provided news articles and pictures related to the disaster on its website. This is historical coverage and is no longer being updated.