In brief
Mainichi Shimbun’s Sunday Mainichi magazine will issue its final edition on April 27, 2027, concluding a more than 100‑year run. Citing a shrinking market and elevated material costs, the publisher said the print periodical will be discontinued, with the final issue expected to sell around 30,000 copies. The magazine’s long legacy includes its well‑known university admissions rankings and a celebrated 1959 special edition that sold over 1.5 million copies.
The Sunday Mainichi, Japan’s oldest general‑interest weekly, will release its last printed issue on Thursday, April 27, 2027, marking the end of a more than 100‑year publication span.
Publisher Mainichi Shimbun Publishing Inc., which has overseen the magazine since its launch in April 1922, cited a shrinking market for print media and rising costs of paper and printing materials as the primary reasons for halting the weekly’s production.
Financial data released by the company show that in fiscal 2025, which closed in April, the magazine’s average circulation averaged roughly 30,000 copies per issue. That figure, while modest compared with peak circulation decades ago, reflects a trend of declining print readership that has pressured many long‑running periodicals worldwide.
In a special edition commemorating Crown Prince Akihito’s marriage in April 1959, the Sunday Mainichi achieved a record sales figure, moving 1,567,000 copies. That edition remains one of the most significant moments in the magazine’s history and is often cited by media scholars when examining the reach of print journalism in mid‑20th‑century Japan.
Beyond occasional blockbuster editions, the Sunday Mainichi developed a reputation for its in‑depth coverage of university admissions. The magazine is well known for ranking high schools by the number of graduates accepted into prestigious institutions such as the University of Tokyo and for publishing exhaustive lists that note every successful applicant in a given year. These rankings have historically informed students, parents, and education policy discussions across the country.
Mainichi Shimbun, the parent newspaper company that also publishes the daily Mainichi Shimbun, announced the decision to discontinue the weekly in a brief statement to the press. While the company has not detailed how it will transition subscribers or archivists to digital platforms, the announcement was framed as a strategic move to allocate resources to areas where print readership remains robust.
In the same press release, the publisher noted that the final issue will be available for sale on April 27, 2027, and was expected to distribute approximately 30,000 copies. The announcement also mentioned that the final and the preceding issue will be printed in a limited run that collectors may consider rare, given the magazine’s centennial status.
Heritage media scholars emphasize that the discontinuation of the Sunday Mainichi reflects broader structural shifts in how society consumes news, with digital platforms increasingly supplanting print. Though the publisher’s statement focused on cost and market conditions, the move resonates with a global trend of declining print sales in the face of online alternatives.
At the same time, continued references to the Sunday Mainichi’s legacy in university admissions coverage underscore the role that long‑standing periodicals play in shaping public discourse. In summarizing its future plans, the publisher reaffirmed its commitment to delivering news coverage, suggesting that its other products may adapt more quickly to technological changes than the traditional weekly format.
With the final issue set to retail roughly thirty thousand copies, the Sunday Mainichi’s conclusion marks the end of an era for a publication that stood as a barometer of societal trends for generations, offering policymakers, parents, and students a window into Japan’s educational landscape for over a century.
