The Yomiuri KODOMO Shimbun
Summary
The Yomiuri KODOMO Shimbun is a weekly newspaper aimed at primary school students that comes out every Thursday. We produced our first issue in March 2011, in the hope of boosting children's development by helping them enjoy newspapers from an early age.
The KODOMO Shimbun is printed in tabloid size, which fits easily into the hands of primary school students. It has 20 full-color pages and uses large illustrations and photographs to convey the news and societal trends in a fun, easy-to-understand way.
The main stories are carefully selected from a week's worth of politics, economics, incidents, international news and sports, making it perfect for reading as a family and in school classes. With the cooperation of Shogakukan, a leading publisher of picture books and comics for young people, and major cram school Yotsuyaotsuka, we prepare fun reading material and lessons that you can't get in other papers.
In 2011, The KODOMO Shimbun received a jury commendation award in the editorial category of the World Young Reader Prize offered by the World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers (WAN-IFRA). The newspaper was praised for its ability to attract young readers as a high-quality newspaper focused on easy-to-understand articles.
Our subscription fee is ￥550 per month (including tax).
As of April 2021, the circutatim is 201,704 (Japan Audit Bureau of Circulations report).
Page Guide
Point①News
Six pages are allocated to news. Main news stories and topics are illustrated with large photographs on Page 1 and continuing onto Page 2, where more detailed explanations and diagrams are carried. Other main news is covered on Pages 3 to 5. On Page 6, a character from Japan's popular manga Detective Conan succinctly explains the "word of the day" in four points. This is contained within a cutting line so it can easily be removed from the newspaper
Point②Features
This section contains book reviews as well as information on things like fashion, manga and food to arouse children's curiosity. Two facing pages prepared by Shogakukan feature visual explanations of such topics as science and culture.
Point③Studying
The Yomiuri KODOMO Shimbun contains many sections to encourage a love of studying. A major cram school provides explanations of problems from middle school entrance exams and clarification of everyday things that seem odd. In exam season, we put together a feature explaining key points for each subject. There is also a section where kids can have fun studying everyday English conversation.
Tetsuya Tsuruhara of The Yomiuri Shimbun's General Bureau of Europe holds a jury commendation award in Vienna on Oct. 12, 2011, after the award ceremony for the World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers' World Young Reader Prize.
