毎日新聞

毎日新聞: Japan's Major Outlet and Why Beijing Blocks It

What 毎日新聞 Is

毎日新聞 (Mainichi Shimbun) is one of Japan's five largest newspapers by circulation, founded in 1872. It is owned by Mainichi Broadcasting System and has a print readership of roughly 1.5 million domestically. The outlet operates a web presence with digital subscriptions and free content, covering national politics, business, culture, and international affairs. Its English-language service, Mainichi Daily News, provides translated reporting for overseas audiences.

Why It's Censored

In China, 毎日新聞 is blocked as part of broader restrictions on foreign news outlets that report on sensitive topics. China's Cyberspace Administration (CAC) and Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) do not publish a formal blocklist, but the outlet is systematically unavailable within mainland China's borders. The blocking intensified after 2010, when coverage of Sino-Japanese territorial disputes over the Senkaku Islands and criticism of Chinese government policies became more frequent. Beijing treats independent Japanese journalism as a vehicle for what it terms "hostile foreign influence."

In North Korea, access to all foreign news is restricted under state media monopoly. The Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) controls domestic information flow, and foreign outlets—Japanese newspapers included—are blocked by default. North Korean citizens have virtually no legal access to uncensored international news. The blocking is enforced through a heavily firewalled domestic intranet (Kwangmyong) and restricted international internet access reserved for government officials and selected institutions.

Technical Blocking Methods

China employs multiple technical layers. IP-based blocking remains primary: Mainichi's domain servers are blackholed at China's border gateways. DNS filtering is secondary; requests to mainichi.jp resolve to null or redirects when queried from inside China. Deep Packet Inspection (DPI) monitors encrypted traffic patterns; even when users tunnel through obfuscation layers, the CAC has increasingly deployed machine-learning systems to detect VPN signatures.

North Korea's blocking is cruder but total. The regime blocks all external IP ranges except those whitelisted for government use. DNS requests fail outright; no infrastructure exists for average citizens to make external queries. International traffic is physically isolated at the border.

User Workarounds

Users in China typically rely on virtual private networks (VPNs) that route traffic outside the Great Firewall, though Chinese regulations tightened considerably after 2017 and many domestic VPN apps were removed from app stores. Readers also use proxy services, Tor browser (though Tor entry nodes are blocked), or mirror sites hosted outside China. Some access cached versions via search engines or academic databases that maintain archival copies.

North Korean citizens have near-zero practical recourse; domestic VPN use is illegal and detected. Rare exceptions involve defectors or officials stationed abroad.

Alternatives

Japan Times (Japan Times Online) operates similarly but is less frequently cited in censorship reports; it remains blocked in China but by identical mechanisms. NHK World, Japan's state broadcaster, is also blocked in China but maintains multiple mirror domains that rotate accessibility. Reuters Japan and Agence France-Presse bureaus in Tokyo publish Japan-focused reporting and face similar but not identical blocking patterns in mainland China.

Outlook

Restrictions in China show no sign of easing. The CAC expanded censorship authority in 2021–2022, and anti-Japan sentiment in state media has remained high. Technical blocking sophistication is increasing, not declining.

North Korea's blocks are structural and unlikely to change without regime collapse or major policy reversal. International media access remains a state security priority.

For readers outside these regions, 毎日新聞 remains freely accessible. The outlet's English service continues publishing, and digital subscriptions are available globally.