Weekly magazines in Japan

The term shūkanshi (Japanese: 週刊誌, lit. 'weekly magazine') generally refers to weekly magazines published in Japan, including politically provocative weekly tabloid newspapers.

As noted by Watanabe and Gamble in the Japan Media Review and in their book A Public Betrayed, the genre is "often described as bizarre blends of various types of U.S. magazines, such as Newsweek, The New Yorker, People, Penthouse, and The National Enquirer".^: 71

In Japan, weekly magazines have been a source of anti-semitic articles, including Shukan Bunshun, Marco Polo, and Shukan Shincho, which have repeatedly published articles denying the Holocaust.^: 170 Such magazines have also been hotbeds of articles that disparage neighboring countries, especially South Korea, as well as invasions of privacy towards celebrities; for instance, Bubka (which has since transitioned into a general Japanese idol magazine) was involved in a lawsuit for their 2002 publication of unauthorized childhood photos of several female idols. Shukan Shincho was ordered by the Supreme Court of Japan to pay damages to a Soka Gakkai member for publishing an unsubstantiated allegation of murder, and has been criticized for sensationalistic stories regarding a disputed Paleolithic settlement site in Japan. The magazine has also been rebuked for publishing the names and photographs of minors who have been accused of criminal acts, even before their trials began. Women-oriented magazines have also been known to publish critical or speculatory articles pertaining to the Japanese imperial family, in defiance of the chrysanthemum taboo.