Iji Nippou

Iji Nippou (医事日報, also known in English as Japan Medical Press, Inc.) was a Japanese publisher specialising in medical, pharmaceutical and healthcare information. Its lineage reaches back to October 1889, when the newspaper Yakuseki Shinpō (薬石新報) was launched as a ten-day periodical. In 1916 the company added a daily paper for medical and pharmaceutical professionals, Yakuseki Nippō (薬石日報), while continuing the older title. After wartime suspension under newspaper controls in 1941, publication was revived in 1945 by the foundation Yakuseki Nippōsha, and in 1955 a stock company of the same name was established. In 1957 the paper was renamed Iji Nippō and the company became Iji Nippōsha Co., Ltd. In 1989, marking its centenary and the trademark registration of Iji Nippō / Japan Medical Press, the organisation was restructured as Iji Nippō Co., Ltd. and moved its head office to Hongō, Bunkyō, Tokyo. Over the decades the firm built a broad catalogue of directories and reference works for the medical sector. These included the Nihon Ishi Meikan (Japan Physicians Directory, first published in 1961), regional hospital and clinic directories covering six areas of Japan, the annual MAC general catalogue of medical equipment, and titles on electrocardiography, drug therapy, clinical trials and angiography. It also published the bulletin of the Japan Medical Association's general meetings and participated in journals such as the kidney research magazine Jinzō. In 2019 the business faced a sharp decline in sales. In November of that year the commercial rights and registered trademarks held by Iji Nippō Co., Ltd. were transferred to a successor company, Iji Nippōsha Co., Ltd., which continued the business. The COVID-19 pandemic then hit the company hard, causing a substantial fall in revenue. Having fulfilled its social role in medical publishing, the successor ceased operations at the end of December 2022, following the final issue of its Kinki hospital information directory in July 2021.

The origins of Iji Nippou lie in the newspaper Yakuseki Shinpō (薬石新報), first published in October 1889 as a ten-day periodical. In its early years the publisher issued works such as Yakugyōka no Zayū, a revised Japanese pharmacopoeia, and from 1897 to 1906 produced maps and publications including the Osaka hygiene laboratory illustration, an Osaka exhibition guide, the first edition of Rinshō Yakuseki Shinpō, and the complete pharmaceutical regulations. In 1907 it published the household hygiene title Fūfu no Eisei. In 1916, while Yakuseki Shinpō continued as a ten-day periodical, the company launched Yakuseki Nippō (薬石日報), a daily newspaper aimed at medical and pharmaceutical professionals. The paper marked its fifteenth anniversary in 1931 with congratulatory inscriptions from prominent political and academic figures. In 1941 newspaper controls forced it to suspend publication. In July 1945 it was revived by the foundation Yakuseki Nippōsha (the foundation's registration was closed on 21 January 2019). In February 1951 the trading and publishing department of San'endo Sansu temporarily issued the paper, and in January 1952 it merged with the Osaka Prefectural Hospital Association magazine, changing the company name to Yakuseki Nippōsha. In 1955 Yakuseki Nippōsha Co., Ltd. was established. With Hisomu Nagai, professor emeritus of the University of Tokyo, as editor-in-chief, it continued the paper's issue numbering from No. 7599 and received third-class mail approval on 28 September as an every-other-day publication. In 1957 the paper was renamed Iji Nippō (from issue No. 7680) and the company became Iji Nippōsha Co., Ltd. From 1959 it published the bulletin of the Japan Medical Association's general meetings, issued every four years thereafter. In 1977 the company published Abdominal Organ Angiography Diagnosis, and in 1978 it took part in launching the kidney research foundation's journal Jinzō, handling all editorial work. In 1979 it founded the Medical Industry Research Association. In 1980 it moved its head office to Chūō, Tokyo, making Osaka a branch. In 1989, marking its centenary and the trademark registration of Iji Nippō / Japan Medical Press, it reorganised as Iji Nippō Co., Ltd. and moved its head office from Chūō to Hongō, Bunkyō, Tokyo. It compiled clinic information for Hokkaido/Tōhoku, Tokyo, Kinki and Kyushu/Okinawa, and collected data on geriatric health facilities nationwide. In 1998 the head office moved to Koishikawa, Bunkyō, into its own building. The company produced a basic survey report on cooperation with the China-Japan Integrated Medicine and Pharmacology Society under the Sunrise Gushikawa plan in Gushikawa, Okinawa (now Uruma), and was appointed chief research corporation by the Shanghai branch of the World Natural Medicine Organisation, taking on part of that group's work. In 2003 its representative director and Waseda University professor emeritus Taizō Hamada were invited as economic advisors by Daqing, Heilongjiang, China. In 2004 the representative director served on a review committee for a land farm feasibility study under a power-source region promotion programme. In 2005 he became a trustee of the Okinawa Health and Longevity Research and Development Centre. In 2009 the head office moved to Hakusan, Bunkyō. On 21 January 2019 the Yakuseki Nippō foundation was closed. In October 2019 the business moved to Toshima, Tokyo, as Iji Nippōsha. After the final issue of its Kinki hospital information directory on 16 July 2021, the company ceased operations at the end of December 2021, and the successor entity ended its business at the end of December 2022.

• 2022

  Successor entity ended business at the end of December.

• 2021

  Final Kinki hospital information directory issued on 16 July; operations ceased at year-end.

• 2019

  Yakuseki Nippō foundation closed on 21 January; business transferred to Iji Nippōsha in November.

• 2009

  Head office moved to Hakusan, Bunkyō.

• 1998

  Head office moved to Koishikawa, Bunkyō, into its own building.

• 1989

  Reorganised as Iji Nippō Co., Ltd.; head office moved to Hongō, Bunkyō.

• 1980

  Head office moved to Chūō, Tokyo; Osaka became a branch.

• 1979

  Founded the Medical Industry Research Association.

• 1977

  Published Abdominal Organ Angiography Diagnosis.

• 1961

  Published Nihon Ishi Meikan (Japan Physicians Directory).

• 1959

  Began publishing Japan Medical Association general meeting bulletins.

• 1957

  Paper renamed Iji Nippō; company renamed Iji Nippōsha Co., Ltd.

• 1955

  Yakuseki Nippōsha Co., Ltd. established; Hisomu Nagai appointed editor-in-chief.

• 1952

  Merged with the Osaka Prefectural Hospital Association magazine; company renamed Yakuseki Nippōsha.

• 1945

  Revived in July by the foundation Yakuseki Nippōsha.

• 1941

  Publication suspended under wartime newspaper controls.

• 1916

  Daily newspaper Yakuseki Nippō launched for medical and pharmaceutical professionals.

• 1892

  Approved as a third-class mail item on 22 March.

• 1889

  Yakuseki Shinpō launched in October as a ten-day periodical.

A long-established specialist publisher of medical, pharmaceutical and healthcare directories and reference works for professionals in Japan.

• 1889

  Yakuseki Shinpō

• 1916

  Yakuseki Nippō

• 1957

  Iji Nippō

• 1961

  Nihon Ishi Meikan

• 1960

  MAC General Catalogue

• 1962

  Hospital and Clinic Information

• 1968

  Drug Therapy

• 1972

  Clinical Trials in Practice

• 1977

  Abdominal Organ Angiography Diagnosis

1. 1Iji Nippou - Wikidatawikidata.org
2. 2医事日報 - Wikipedia (Japanese)ja.wikipedia.org
3. 3株式会社医事日報ijinippo.co.jp