The Asahi Shimbun Company
147-year-old Japanese national newspaper publisher with print, digital news, and real estate income.
On the record
Checkpoint: Tokyo District Court ruling or settlement in Asahi's lawsuit against Perplexity AI
The call
Print circulation keeps shrinking and digital subscriptions stay flat, while real estate income and cost cuts, not journalism revenue, keep the balance sheet upright.
Asahi Shimbun is a major Japanese newspaper founded in 1878 that also owns valuable office buildings, which generate steady rent money. Its core news business is harder to replace because it has reporters in many cities, access to government sources, and a huge archive of past stories, but readers and advertisers are leaving for free news on phones and AI tools like Perplexity that summarize information instantly without paywall. The company could turn things around if it wins its lawsuit against Perplexity (demanding payment for using its articles) and if it can grow paying digital subscribers beyond the 305,000 it has stuck at now, but neither has happened yet.
Why
01
AI pressure: Perplexity AI and generic AI answer engines. AI answer engines pull readers away from articles; Asahi sued Perplexity in Tokyo in August 2025 over unlicensed use of its content. Could AI do the core job? Yes, likely.
02
Bigger players: Yahoo Japan News, LINE News, SmartNews, NHK. Aggregators and free public broadcasting already capture most digital news attention in Japan, leaving Asahi's own site a smaller stop. Could a giant copy it? Probably.
03
What protects it. Large bureau network (151 domestic, 27 overseas) and press-club access give it reporting reach few rivals can match, plus real estate income that cushions print decline.
What would change this call
Tokyo District Court ruling or settlement in Asahi's Perplexity lawsuit (filed Aug 2025). Shows whether Asahi can convert AI scraping into licensing revenue or keeps losing traffic for free.
Digital paid subscriber count reported in next annual results versus the ~305K held for years. Shows whether digital growth can ever offset accelerating print circulation loss.
Announcement of another voluntary early-retirement/restructuring round (after 2020, 2022). Would confirm continued managed decline rather than a turnaround in core newspaper economics.
Digital paid subscriber count reported in next annual results versus the ~305K held for years. Shows whether digital growth can ever offset accelerating print circulation loss.
Announcement of another voluntary early-retirement/restructuring round (after 2020, 2022). Would confirm continued managed decline rather than a turnaround in core newspaper economics.
Key numbers
- Morning circulation fell 3.76M to 3.44M in one year
- Digital paid subscribers stuck near 305,000
- Consolidated sales rose to 278.07 billion yen
Named risks
- Structural print circulation decline (8.6% in one year) not offset by flat ~305K digital subscriptions.
- Profitability dependent on real estate leasing rather than core journalism revenue.
- Uncertain outcome of Perplexity AI lawsuit could leave AI scraping unremedied and unpaid.
- Recurring early-retirement and restructuring rounds signal ongoing managed workforce decline.
- Progressive evening-edition suspensions reduce print reach and revenue base.
Rivals, as read in July 2026
| Rival | Direction | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Perplexity AI | contesting | Joint lawsuit with Nikkei filed 2025-08-26 alleging unauthorized scraping, seeking ~2.2B yen damages each |
| Yahoo Japan News, LINE News, SmartNews | losing to | Aggregator platforms increasingly intermediate digital news consumption, cannibalizing referral traffic and subscriptions |
| Yomiuri Shimbun | losing to | Larger circulation national rival amid Asahi's 8.6% circulation drop in 2023-2024 |
| NHK | losing to | Public broadcaster dominates TV news consumption, pressuring Asahi's affiliate TV Asahi in broadcast segment |
| Nikkei | contesting | Co-plaintiff against Perplexity (2025-08-26) but also a direct competing national daily |
Questions people ask
- Is The Asahi Shimbun Company profitable in 2025?
- Yes, consolidated sales rose to about 278.07 billion yen for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2025, up from 269.12 billion yen the prior year, with real estate leasing income cited by third-party analysis as a key contributor after a FY2021 loss (2022-07-24).
- Could AI replace Asahi Shimbun journalists?
- Routine proofreading is already AI-assisted via Asahi's own Typoless tool launched October 2023, but investigative reporting from its 151 domestic and 27 overseas bureaus is harder to replicate. Asahi sued Perplexity AI on August 26, 2025 for allegedly scraping its content without payment.
- Who owns The Asahi Shimbun Company?
- As of March 31, 2023, ownership was split among an employee stock ownership plan (26.29%), the Kosetsu Museum of Art tied to the founding Murayama family (21.02%), TV Asahi Holdings (11.88%), Ueno Seiji (11.02%), Toppan (7.31%), and Asahi Broadcasting Group (2.31%).
- Is Asahi Shimbun losing readers?
- Yes. Morning-edition circulation fell from 3.761 million in March 2023 to 3.437 million in March 2024, an 8.6% one-year drop, while digital paid subscriptions have stayed flat around 305,000 for years, per a 2024-08-01 report.
- Who is Asahi Shimbun's biggest competitor?
- Domestically it competes with Yomiuri Shimbun, Nikkei, and Mainichi Shimbun for print readers, while AI answer engines like Perplexity and aggregators such as Yahoo Japan News and LINE News increasingly intermediate its digital distribution, prompting an August 26, 2025 lawsuit against Perplexity.
- Is Asahi Shimbun suing an AI company?
- Yes, on August 26, 2025, Asahi Shimbun and Nikkei jointly filed suit against Perplexity AI in Tokyo District Court alleging unauthorized scraping of paywalled articles, each seeking roughly 2.2 billion yen in damages; the case remains ongoing.
Timeline
- 2025-08-26Filed joint lawsuit with Nikkei against Perplexity AI seeking ~2.2B yen damages each
- 2025-08Suspended Saturday evening print editions nationwide, citing labor shortages
- 2025-04-24Reported combined media index (print circulation plus digital subs) of 3.569 million
- 2025-01Asahi Shimbun Publications launched comics platform Asacomi
- 2024-03-31Morning circulation fell to 3.437 million from 3.761 million a year earlier
- 2023-10Launched in-house AI proofreading tool Typoless
- 2023Suspended evening editions in Tokai region
- 2022-07-24Returned to profitability aided by real estate income after FY2021 loss
- 2022Ran voluntary early-retirement round targeting 200+ media staff aged 45+
- 2020Ran voluntary early-retirement program for employees aged 45+
Revision history
24 July 2026
First assessed. Losing its protection. The text above is fixed as of this date and is not edited afterwards.
In the same band
Sources
- The Asahi Shimbun Company (n.d. (retrieved 2026-06-30))
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