Country’s corporate culture is blamed for working people to death, but staff in one sector are rewarded with regular lie-ins

This article is more than 2 years old

This article is more than 2 years old

There is a good chance that Japan’s light sleepers have at times been stirred by the purr of an approaching moped, followed by the squeak of a brake and footsteps on the street.

The sounds punctuate the pre-dawn routine of the paper delivery worker, whose job it is to bring news, in strictly analogue form, to tens of millions of households.

But on Monday, staff employed by the country’s major newspapers enjoyed a well-earned lie-in during one of Japan’s regular press holidays, when printing presses stay silent and oblivious rail commuters catch themselves as they approach near-empty newsstands.

In the age of digital media and declining newspaper circulations, the day off seems quaintly anachronistic.

Japan’s newspapers are grappling with falling readerships and advertising revenues, but the army of delivery personnel is testament to an enduring love that many Japanese have for news in printed form. And to the effort Japan’s big five broadsheet newspapers – the Yomiuri, Asahi, Mainichi, Sankei and Nikkei – put into securing household subscriptions.

The first knock on the door of a newly occupied home is likely to come from an eager, and persistent, agent. In return for an annual subscription, they will throw in extras – from washing powder and toilet rolls to event tickets, along with flyers for supermarkets and other local businesses.

In a country whose corporate culture is blamed for literally working people to death, the regular day off in the newspaper industry is no doubt envied by others.

The one-day press holidays were introduced in 1956 for just two months of the year and gradually extended to other months. They fall on a Monday, or a Tuesday if the previous day is one of Japan’s 16 public holidays.



Without the hardy souls who take to their mopeds, publishers would be in trouble – more than 95% of all newspapers sold are home deliveries.

The Yomiuri alone employs 79,000 workers at more than 7,000 distribution points, from the centre of Tokyo to the remotest village.

And while newspaper circulation in Japan has fallen by 10m since 2000, combined sales still exceed 43m.



The Yomiuri, a conservative broadsheet, sells just over 9m copies of its morning edition – making it the biggest-selling paper in the world – followed by the liberal Asahi with about 7m copies.

Kaori Hayashi, a professor of information studies at Tokyo University, said that for many people over a certain age, “newspapers are not merely an information medium but an integral part of their lifestyle”.

“If you are an adult in Japan, chances are that one of the first things you do after getting up in the morning is to go to your mailbox and collect your morning paper,” she wrote on the Nippon.com website.

Still, surely even the most avid print enthusiast would not have begrudged the tireless workers on their mopeds an extra few hours in bed on Monday morning.