Wikipedia:WikiProject Japan/Reliable sources

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This resource collates and classifies sources often used in Japanese-related articles similar to what other WikiProjects have done and aims to be as comprehensive as possible similar to reliable sources lists by WikiProjects Korea, Africa, and Philippines.

Discussion about the reliability of a certain source or certain sources can be discussed on the project's talk page or at the Reliable Source Noticeboard

Notes

• Never or rarely use Japanese sources in controversial issues related to Japan in WWII.
• Some of the following publications are presumed to be reliable without a proper discussion because they are owned by a reliable source.
• Though media outlets that use the English language are preferred, there are no restrictions over the use of media outlets utilizing non-English languages (see Wikipedia:Verifiability#Non-English sources).
• Consensus can change over time and sometimes be overridden

News

National

These sources listed deal primarily with national news

Name	Reliability	Available in English?	Links	Notes	Discussions	Uses
Forbes Japan	Yes	No	forbesjapan.com	Forbes Japan Staff Japanese version of Forbes Magazine Considered reliable per WP:FORBES Also produces local news.		1
	No	Yes		Forbes Japan Contributor Any article that has "Contributor" is not reliable per WP:FORBESCON. Often just translated article from the English version of Forbes
	No	No		Forbes Japan BrandVoice Forbes Japan BrandVoice advertisement articles published by Forbes Japan which is similar to that of WP:FORBESADVISOR. Articles under it have the "Forbes JAPAN BrandVoice Studio" as the author and have the "Promoted by ..." at the bottom.
Fuji News Network (FNN)	Yes	No	fnn.jp	Owned by Fujisankei Communications Group, Take news about controversies of the Fuji TV (i.e. Masahiro Nakai scandal and channel hostilities) with a grain of salt. Presumed reliable per WP:NEWSORG		1
Japan Today	No	Yes	japantoday.com	Considered to be a WP:BLOG. The website also reprints translated articles from various sources, including sources with no fact-checking and various self-publish blogs.	1	1
Jiji Press	Yes	Yes	jiji.com jen.jiji.com (English version)	A news wire service, similar to that of Kyodo News. Presumed reliable per WP:NEWSORG		1
Kyodo News	Yes	Yes	kyodonews.jp english.kyodonews.net (English version)	A wire service agency.	1	1
Mainichi Shimbun	Yes	Yes	mainichi.jp mainichi.jp/english (English version) mbs.jp/news (MBS)	Including Mainichi Broadcasting System (MBS), some articles are paywalled.	1 2 3	1  1
NHK	Yes	Yes	nhk.or.jp (old) news.web.nhk (new) www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/ (NHK World-Japan)	NHK is the Japanese public broadcaster. Be careful about using it in articles related to Japanese politics. Including NHK world. Starting around January 1, 2026, the news section of the Japanese version of the NHK (nhk.or.jp) moves its domain to news.web.nhk. Although some articles are kept alive after this move and now redirect to the new domain, most of the articles published prior to this move are mostly dead.	1 2 3 4 5 6	1
Sankei Shimbun	Yes	Yes	sankei.com japan-forward.com (Japan Forward)	Owned by Fujisankei Communications Group Non-Controversial Topics: Considered by many editors to be generally reliable on non-controversial topics related to Japan. Including Japan Forward, the English version.	1 2 A B	1  1
	No			Controversial Topics: Considered by many editors to be generally unreliable for controversial topics related to Japan. (e.g. Japan in WWII, Politics of Japan, International politics, East Asian relations, Migration in Japan) Including Japan Forward, the English version.
TBS News	Yes	No	newsdig.tbs.co.jp	Owned by TBS Holdings, also known as JNN (Japan News Network), Presumed reliable per WP:NEWSORG		1
The Asahi Shimbun	Yes	Yes	asahi.com asahi.com/ajw (English version) news.tv-asahi.co.jp (ANN)	The Asahi Shimbun is considered to be a left-leaning newspaper. This includes All-Nippon News Network (ANN). Some Japanese articles are paywalled.	1 2 3 4 5 6	1  1
The Japan Times	Yes	Yes	japantimes.co.jp	Some news is paywalled Some editors argued that some of its articles have factual errors, making it not an ideal source for traditional Japanese culture.	1 2 3 4 5 6 7	1
The Nikkei	Yes	Yes	nikkei.com asia.nikkei.com (Nikkei Asia)	Also known as The Nihon Keizai Shimbun. Some of the articles are paywalled. English version is Nikkei Asia.	1 2 3	1   2
Tokyo Reporter	No	Yes	tokyoreporter.com	Considered to be a tabloid publication. Some editors argued that the website translates articles from other sources.	1	1
Yahoo! News Japan	Yes	No	news.yahoo.co.jp/original/ (Yahoo! News Japan Original)	Yahoo! News Japan Original Owned by and run by Line Corporation. Presumed reliable per WP:NEWSORG For the news aggregator service (See #News aggregator)	1	1
	Maybe	No	news.yahoo.co.jp/expert (Yahoo! News Japan Expert)	Yahoo! News Japan Expert Maybe reliable per WP:SPS. An editor pointed out that the website accepts some non-expert articles. For the news aggregator service (See #News aggregator)		1
Yomiuri Shimbun	Yes	Yes	yomiuri.co.jp japannews.yomiuri.co.jp (English Version) news.ntv.co.jp (NNN) ntv.co.jp/englishnews (English version of NNN)	The Japan News is the English version of this newspaper. Also owned Nippon TV including Nippon News Network (NNN). Considered to be a right-leaning newspaper.	1 2 3 4	1  1

References

Regional/Prefectural

Further information: WP:LOCALCORP

Main article: List of newspapers in Japan

The sources listed deal primarily or focus mainly on their selected region and/or prefecture. Per this RSN discussion, editors consider local Japanese newspapers to be generally reliable unless otherwise stated.

Regional Block Newspapers

The following newspapers are "Block newspapers" or newspapers that cover multiple prefectures.

Name	Reliability	Available in English?	Links	Region/Prefecture	Notes	Uses
Hokkaido Shimbun	Yes	No	hokkaido-np.co.jp	Hokkaido	Most of the articles are paywalled	1
Kahoku Shimpō	Yes	No	kahoku.news	Tohoku region		1
Chunichi Shimbun	Yes	No	chunichi.co.jp tokyo-np.co.jp (The Tokyo Shimbun)	Aichi Prefecture and neighboring prefectures.	They primarily cover stories from Aichi Prefecture and its neighboring prefectures (Mie, Gifu, Chūbu region). Their company also publishes The Tokyo Shimbun in the Tokyo Metro Area.	1   1
Chugoku Shimbun	Yes	No	chugoku-np.co.jp	Chugoku region		1
The Shikoku Shimbun	Yes	No	shikoku-np.co.jp	Shikoku region		1
Nishinippon Shimbun	Yes	No	nishinippon.co.jp	Kyushu region	Note that it exclude Okinawa Prefecture	1

Prefectural Newspapers

The following newspapers primarily focus on news in their respective prefecture.

Hokkaido

• See Hokkaido Shimbun

Tohoku region

• Akita Prefecture : Akita Sakigake Shimbun
• Aomori Prefecture : Tō-Ō Nippō
• Fukushima Prefecture : Fukushima Minpo; Fukushima Minyu
• Iwate Prefecture : Iwate Nippo
• Miyagi Prefecture : Osaki Times; Ichinomaki Nichinichi Shimbun;
• Yamagata Prefecture : Yamagata Shimbun

Kanto region

• Chiba Prefecture : Chiba Nippo
• Gunma Prefecture : Jomo Shimbun
• Ibaraki Prefecture : Ibaraki Shimbun
• Kanagawa Prefecture : Kanagawa Shimbun (Kanaloco)
• Saitama Prefecture : Saitama Prefecture
• Tochigi Prefecture : Shimotsuke Shimbun
• Tokyo Metropolis: See Chunichi Shimbun

Chubu region

• Aichi Prefecture : See Chunichi Shimbun
• Fukui Prefecture : Fukui Shimbun
• Gifu Prefecture : Gifu Shimbun
• Ishikawa Prefecture : Hokkoku Shimbun
• Nagano Prefecture : The Shimano Mainichi Shimbun
• Niigata Prefecture : Niigata Nippo
• Shizuoka Prefecture : Shizuoka Shimbun
• Toyama Prefecture : Kitanippon Shimbun; Toyama Shimbun
• Yamanashi Prefecture : Yamanashi Nichinichi Shimbun

Kansai/Kinki region

• Hyogo Prefecture : Kobe Shimbun
• Kyoto Prefecture : Kyoto Shimbun
• Nara Prefecture : Nara Shimbun
• Mie Prefecture : Ise Shimbun
• Osaka Prefecture : Osaka Nichinichi Shimbun
• Shiga Prefecture : Shiga Yukan
• Wakayama Prefecture : News Wakayama; Wakayama Shimpo

Chugoku region

• Hiroshima Prefecture : See Chugoku Shimbun; Nishi Hiroshima Times
• Okayama Prefecture : Sanyo Shimbun
• Shimane Prefecture: San-in Chuo Shimpo
• Tottori Prefecture : Nihonkai Shimbun
• Yamaguchi Prefecture : Yamaguchi Shimbun

Shikoku region

• Ehime Prefecture : Ehime Shimbun
• Kagawa Prefecture : See Shikoku Shimbun
• Kochi Prefecture : Kochi Shimbun
• Tokushima Prefecture : Tokushima Shimbun

Kyushu region

• Fukuoka Prefecture : See Nishinippon Shimbun; Fukuoka Kenmin Shimbun
• Miyazaki Prefecture : Miyazaki Nichinichi Shimbun
• Kagoshima Prefecture : Minami Nippon Shimbun
• Kumamoto Prefecture : Kumamoto Nichinichi Shimbun
• Nagasaki Prefecture : Nagasaki Shimbun
• Oita Prefecture ; Oita Godo Shimbun
• Saga Prefecture : Saga Shimbun

Okinawa Prefecture

• Ryukyu Shimpo; Okinawa Times

Notes

News aggregator

If you use articles republished by news aggregators like Yahoo! News Japan and 47News, you should specify in the ref both the original newspaper that published the article and the news aggregator, like so:

{{Cite news |newspaper=[[Yomiuri Shimbun]] |via=[[Yahoo! News Japan]] |url=...

Name	Links	Notes	Uses	News providers list
47News	47news.jp	Affiliated with Kyodo News. It aggregates news from various local and some national newspapers.	1
Livedoor News	news.livedoor.com	Some of the sources they republish may be unreliable, such as Shūkan Bunshun for BLP. Starting June 12, 2024, Livedoor News also uses AI to transcribe YouTube videos into articles under the "Livedoor ECHOES". Articles written by AI are indicated with AIライター自動執筆記事 tag.	1
Yahoo! News Japan	news.yahoo.co.jp	For the Yahoo! News Japan Expert and Original (see WP:YAHOONEWSJAPAN) Some of the sources they republish may be unreliable, such as Shūkan Bunshun for BLP and Sankei Shimbun for controversial topics. IMPORTANT NOTE: preemptively archive the link you are using as this website often kills its links in just a few weeks or days.	1

References

Entertainment and Popular Culture

Further information: WP:A&M/RS § Japanese, and WP:GAMESOURCES

Listed here are some of the selected entertainment websites. You can find more at Wikiproject Anime and Manga and Wikiproject Video Games' list of reliable sources.

Name and link	Reliability	Available in English?	Link	Scope	Notes	Discussions	Uses
Asian Junkie	No	Yes	asianjunkie.com	General Entertainment	Personal self-published gossip blog	1	1
Barks	Yes	No	barks.jp	Music		1	1
Billboard Japan	Yes	Maybe	billboard-japan.com	Music	Some content is in English	1	1
BuzzFeed Japan	Maybe	No	buzzfeed.com/jp	General entertainment	Despite operated by The Asahi Shimbun Company. BuzzFeed still owns the website so WP:BUZZFEED still applies.	1	1
CNET Japan	Yes	No	japan.cnet.com	General entertainment	The Japanese website is operated by 4XCorp (a subsidiary of the The Asahi Shimbun Company) and independently from the english website. There are a small consensus that articles written by the Japanese staff is considered as generally reliable. For translated articles WP:CNET still applies.	1	1
Eiga.com	Yes	No	eiga.com	Movies	User reviews are unreliable as user-generated content	1 2	1
Famitsu	Yes	No	famitsu.com	Gaming		1 2 3	1
ITmedia	Yes	No	itmedia.co.jp	Gaming		1	1
Kai-You	Yes	No	kai-you.net	General entertainment		1	1
Model Press	Yes	No	mdpr.jp	General Entertainment		1	1
Natalie	Yes	No	natalie.mu	Music (Music Natalie) Anime and Manga (Comic Natalie) Movies (Eiga Natalie) Stage Performances (Stage Natalie) Comedy (Owarai Natalie)		1 2 3 4	1
Note	No	No	note.com	General Entertainment	Blogging website similar to WP:MEDIUM; Maybe usable if the author is a subject-matter expert		1
Oricon	Yes	Yes	oricon.co.jp us.oricon-group.com (English Version; Japan Anime News)	General Entertainment		1 2	1  1
RealSound	Yes	No	realsound.jp	Music, Movies, Tech, Books (including Anime and Manga)		1	1
Tokyohive	No	Yes	tokyohive.com	General Entertainment	Owned by 6Theory owner of Allkpop. Translates news from major media news outlets	1	1
ZDNET Japan	Yes	No	japan.zdnet.com	Tech	The Japanese website is operated by 4XCorp (a subsidiary of the The Asahi Shimbun Company) and independently from the english website. There are a small consensus that articles written by the Japanese staff is considered as generally reliable. For translated articles ZDNET on WP:RSP still applies.	1	1

Shūkanshi

Main pages: Weekly magazines in Japan § Reliability, Wikipedia:Reliable sources/Perennial sources § Tabloids, and WP:REDFLAG

Shūkanshi or Weekly Magazines are weekly tabloids in Japan. The reliability of some of them is uncertain and requires discussion. Some shūkanshi often feature sensational headlines and gossip articles, most often on celebrities and politicians. Although they often broke news about certain scandals (that is later confirmed by high quality sources), per WP:REDFLAG, per Wikipedia's WP:BLP and WP:NOTGOSSIP policy, avoid directly using these sources and it is advised to use more reputable/high-quality sources.

Name and link	Available in English?	Links	Reliability	Notes	Discussions	Uses
Friday	Yes	friday.kodansha.co.jp friday.gold en.friday.news (English version)	No	Notoriously known for publishing celebrity gossip. See: Friday (magazine)#Controversies	1 2	1  1  1
Josei Jishin	No	jisin.jp	Yes	Primarily targeted at females	1	1
Josei Seven	No	josei7.com news-postseven.com (Post Seven)	Maybe	A woman's magazine; Publishes questionable stuff about the Japanese Imperial Family	1 2	1   1
Shūkan Bunshun	No	bunshun.jp number.bunshun.jp (Number)	Maybe	Usable for non-BLP articles and polling analysis for elections	1 2	1   1
No	BLP Articles Although famous for investigative journalism It is often criticized for it's sensationalist headlines. Including the sports magazine Number (See: Shūkan Bunshun#Notable reports and controversies)
Shūkan Gendai	No	gendai.media	Yes	Primarily focus on general interest topics; Be careful on using it on WP:BLPs.	1	1
Shūkan Shinchō	No	shinchosha.co.jp/shukanshincho	No	Often compared to Shūkan Bunshun; Also known for publishing sensationalist news articles.	1 2 A	1
Weekly Asahi Geinō	No	asagei.com	No	Known for publishing sensationalist news and celebrity gossip.	1	1

References

Sports

Name	Reliability	Available in English?	Links	Notes	Discussions	Uses
Daily Sports	Yes	No	daily.co.jp	Operated by the Kobe Shimbun Presumed reliable per WP:NEWSORG. Also published non-sports article.		1
Gekisaka	Yes	No	gekisaka.jp	Owned by Kodansha; only publishes articles about soccer, Presumed reliable per WP:NEWSORG		1
Nikkan Sports	Yes	No	nikkansports.com	Owned by The Asahi Shimbun; also publishes non-sports articles.		1
Number	No	No	number.bunshun.jp	Owned and operated by Shūkan Bunshun Generally unreliable for BLP-related articles		1
Sports Hochi	Yes	No	hochi.co.jp		1	1
Sports Nippon	Yes	No	sponichi.co.jp	Also known as Sponichi. Owned by Mainichi Shimbun; also publishes non-sports articles.	1	1
Tokyo Sports	Yes	No	tokyo-sports.co.jp		1	1

Press Releases

Main page: Wikipedia:Independent sources § Press releases

Per WP:PRSOURCE, A press release is clearly not an independent source as it is usually written either by the business or organization it is written about, or by a business or person hired by or affiliated with the organization. These can be considered as primary sources and cannot be used to determine notability.

Name	Links	Notes	Uses
Kyodo News PRWire	kyodonewsprwire.jp	PR wire service run by Kyodo News	1
PR Times	prtimes.jp		1

Other tools

• CiNii (cir.nii.ac.jp) - Journals and books search engine (available in English and Japanese)
• J-STAGE (jstage.jst.go.jp/browse/-char/en) - electronic journal platform (available in English and Japanese)
• Dictionaries by James Curtis Hepburn:
  • A Japanese-English and English-Japanese Dictionary (1907); does not include Japanese characters
  • A Japanese-English and English-Japanese Dictionary (1888); includes kana and kanji characters

See also

• Wikipedia:WikiProject Japan/Reference library
• Help:Advanced source searching