Tokyo Nichi Nichi Shimbun offices and printing plant, Yurakucho, Tokyo, c. 1930. The inset photo is of Jono Denpei, a principle founder of the newspaper in 1872, the predecessor of today’s Mainichi Shimbun.

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Asahi Shimbun Building, c. 1930

“[The Tokyo Nichi Nichi Shimbun] was the first daily newspaper published in Tokyo. It was founded by Jono Denpei, a popular fiction writer; Nishida Densuke, a former library clerk; and Ochiai Ikujiro, a ukiyo-e artist. The daily newspaper launched on Mar. 29, 1872 – a year marked by the great development of communications in Japan: opening of railways, inauguration of telegraphic service between Tokyo and Osaka, establishment of the nationwide postal service, and a large number of newspapers founded across the country.

“Tokyo Nichi Nichi applied to the Ministry of Finance for permission of publication by notifying that it would report ‘governmental announcements first of all, and further, personnel changes in the Ministries, public office relocations, current prices of rice and other goods, opening of pharmacies etc, news about the commerce, comments on the agriculture, synoptic translations of foreign newspapers, new technical inventions, sudden mishaps, miscellaneous strange stories, and as far as information about current popular songs.’

“Nichi Nichi proved profitable enough to be able to move, in 1877, into an impressive brick building in the Yurakucho district near Ginza. In 1911, the management of the newspaper merged with the Osaka Mainichi Shimbun but each continued to maintain separate operations from the other until 1943 when the Tokyo and Osaka editions merged together into one daily named the Mainichi Shimbun.

“The Nichi Nichi newspaper, together with Tokyo Asahi Shinbun, became one of the two leading newspapers in Japan during the Taisho and early Showa periods (app. 1912-1940). Particularly in the Taisho period (1912-1926), its literary section flourished, publishing renowned serial works by Mori Ogai, Akutagawa Ryunsosuke, Kikuchi Kan, and Yokomitsu Riichi.”

– Tokyo Nichi Nichi Shimbun, Waseda University Library Rare Material Collections, 1999

Nichi Nichi Shimbun [“Tokyo Daily News”] office, Tokyo, c. 1920, after its completion. (Gift of J. Harper Brady Sr.)

“The Tokyo Nichi Nichi Shimbun (lit.’Tokyo Daily News’) was a newspaper printed in Tokyo, Japan from 1872 to 1943. In 1875, the company began the world’s first newspaper delivery service.

“In 1911, the paper merged with Osaka Mainichi Shimbun (lit.’Osaka Daily News’) to form the Mainichi Shimbun company. The two newspapers continued to print independently until 1943. In 1966, the Tokyo office was moved from Yurakucho to Takebashi”

– Wikipedia

The Mainichi (née Nichi Nichi) newspaper building is in the foreground at left-center; to its right, flying a flag, is a rival newspaper: the Asahi Shimbun, Sukiyabashi, Tokyo, c. 1930.