The History of the Mainichi Shimbun

Feb. 21,1872	The Tokyo Nichi Nichi Shimbun is founded in Asakusa, Tokyo. It is Tokyo’s first daily newspaper, and the predecessor to the Mainichi Shimbun.
1875	The paper begins the world’s first home delivery service.
Feb. 20, 1876	Osaka Nippo is founded.
1888	Osaka Nippo becomes the Osaka Mainichi Shimbun.
1918	The national junior high school football tournament, now the national high school rugby tournament, sponsored by The Mainichi Newspapers, is held for the first time.
1922	The Mainichi Shimbun inaugurates the Sunday Mainichi weekly magazine, the English-language Mainichi, and the Braille Mainichi.
1924	The national junior high school invitational baseball tournament, now the National High School Baseball Invitational Tournament, sponsored by The Mainichi Newspapers, is held for the first time.
1929	Dr. Inazo Nitobe is invited as an adviser to the head office of The Mainichi Newspapers.
1936	The Mainichi Shogakusei Shimbun, a newspaper for elementary students, is inaugurated.
1937	The Mainichi Newspapers begins awarding frames for pictures of the winners of Japan’s grand sumo tournaments.
1943	The mastheads of the Osaka Mainichi Shimbun and Tokyo Nichi Nichi Shimbun are unified under the name Mainichi Shimbun.
1966	The Mainichi Newspapers’ Tokyo head office is moved from Yurakucho to the new “Palaceside Building” in Takebashi.
1996	The Mainichi Shimbun becomes the first Japanese national paper to include bylines with all its articles in principle.
2009	The Mainichi Newspapers obtains “ISO 14001” environmental standards certification.
2011	The Mainichi Newspapers establishes a holding company with Sports Nippon Newspapers.