Case Study: The Japan News achieves global digital subscription growth with MPP Global

Helping The Yomiuri Shimbun with the global expansion of The Japan News publication, using new digital subscription business models

The Yomiuri Shimbun, Japan’s largest-circulation newspaper, publishes The Japan News, an English-language daily aimed at international readers and English learners. Facing limited global reach from a print-focused model and aiming to grow readership ahead of major events, the publisher needed a digital subscription platform that could separate domestic print subscribers from overseas digital customers and support new revenue models.

MPP Global’s eSuite delivered end-to-end subscriber management, enabling separate domestic and international subscription models, a metered paywall (two free articles/week) plus pay-per-article microtransactions, flexible pricing and self-care tools, and centralised analytics. Launched in September 2019, The Japan News now offers premium subscriptions (full access + weekly ePaper) and a free standard tier worldwide, backed by PCI-DSS/SOC2 compliance and GDPR-aligned data tools to drive international acquisition and revenue.

The Japan News

Yuki Hasegawa

Former Deputy Managing Editor