The Chunichi Shimbun holds progressive views, and has political tendencies towards liberalism,
social democracy and
socialism. It supported the
Japan Socialist Party in the
Showa period, the
Democratic Party of Japan and
Social Democratic Party (Japan) in the
Heisei period, and the
Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan in the
Reiwa period. The two prewar newspapers (Shin-Aichi and Nagoya Shimbun) were conservative in the Chunichi Shimbun, but the founder,
Kissen Kobayashi, ran for the
mayor of Nagoya in 1951 at the recommendation of the Japan Socialist Party (first rejected, 1952). It was elected in the year) and changed to a left-leaning newspaper supported by the Japan Socialist Party. The Tokyo Shimbun was once a right wing, but when it was acquired by the Chunichi Shimbun in 1964, it changed to a left-leaning newspaper. Probably because of this, the mass media reforms led by the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications under the LDP administration in the Showa era (
1955 system) were treated coldly, and it was not possible to become a national newspaper and to have its own TV station in
Kanto. No (
Tokyo 12 channel (currently
TV Tokyo) was acquired by
the Nikkei, and currently independent stations in the Kanto region such as
Tokyo Metropolitan Television and
TV Kanagawa are affiliated with the Chunichi Shimbun). It was the only major newspaper against the
Koizumi reforms, and the Asahi Shimbun and others agreed. Chunichi was the only one who opposed the
TPP in a major newspaper. It holds a pro-labor union position. In 2012, the newspaper published an editorial on the
Tomorrow Party of Japan. It also has a branch office in Fukushima Prefecture (not officially issued). As a media company, the Yomiuri Shimbun Group and the
Fujisankei Communications Group have a deep relationship with the conservative
Liberal Democratic Party, while the Chunichi Group is a liberal newspaper and has a deep relationship with the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan. The Asahi Shimbun had a close relationship with the
Kōchikai, a moderate faction of the Liberal Democratic Party. It opposes the revision of the constitution and the prime minister's visit to
Yasukuni Shrine. This newspaper is skeptical of the
death penalty. == Group companies ==