Baseball and Newspapers

- Does anyone know which was first? Yomiuri Shimbun's popularity or the Yomiuri Giants' popularity?

The Yomiuri Shimbun's popularity came first, as baseball was a way for businesses to make more money, like the railroad company Hanshin, it was a great way to attract customers for their railroad line. Both Hanshin and Yomiuri were influential in the history of the NPB.

- I am wondering about how much newspapers and journalism in general has influenced Japanese baseball.

It does in Yomiuri, they use this power to their best interest. Yomiuri Shimbun Chairman Tsuneo Watanabe uses his connections to run the NPB with an "iron fist" (though with last year's strike this power is falling). Gone is the time where Watanabe can dictate the NPB, and not expect a backlash. However, Watanabe's power is still pretty high.

Watanabe is so powerful that he was instrumental in the re-election campaign of former Japanese Prime Minister Yasuhiro Nakasone. Also, the current NPB commissioner is a puppet of Watanabe.

Also, I forgot to mention Yomiuri's TV domination with their NTV television network. The Giants are the only team in Japan, basically, to have their games broadcasted all over Japan.

While signs of this monopoly are starting to break up due to the demise of Yomiuri's TV falling popularity rates, the slow demise of Yomiuri's power, and their overall performance of late. Yomiuri TV ratings, once in the 20% range during the 1980s, have fallen to single digits last year.

Also, it's estimated that the Giants are worth about $300-$400 million dollars in revenue (from ticket sales, TV, and souvenirs). Yomiuri's Morning Edition is reportedly read by 10,077,410 people. Their Evening Edition is reportedly read by 4,003,724 people, and their English Edition is reportedly read by 44,227 people. Yomiuri's newspaper sales reportedly make them number one in the world. So these numbers do say something about Yomiuri's budget and influence in Japanese society, along with their domination of the NPB.

Sources: Japan Media View Blog, Japan Media View Wiki

On Yomiuri in English, the biography of Shoriki - Shoriki: Miracle Man of Japan by Edward Uhlan and Dana Thoamas 1957 is a good place to start.

Thanks so much for this information! I really appreciate it.

It always seemed like a conflict of interest to me, especially when the Giants are preforming poorly. What can the reporters do? But I guess it's bigger than that. And no different than the New York Times owning the Boston Red Sox, but that's not nearly as well known.