The Japan Advertiser #524: Wilfrid Fleisher Papers

Published August 28, 2025 at 11:14 AM MDT

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A map of Japan showing the distribution of The Japan Advertiser newspaper, 1937. Box 1, Wilfrid Fleisher papers, American Heritage Center, University of Wyoming.

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Photograph of The Japan Advertiser newspaper’s offices in Tokyo, Japan from The Saturday Evening Post, February 6, 1943. Box 1, Wilfrid Fleisher papers, American Heritage Center, University of Wyoming.

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Editorial from The Japan Advertiser newspaper, headlined “Italy and Japan”, December 1, 1936. Box 4, Wilfrid Fleisher papers, American Heritage Center, University of Wyoming.

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Editorial from The Japan Advertiser newspaper, headlined “America and Japan”, September 28, 1940. Box 5, Wilfrid Fleisher papers, American Heritage Center, University of Wyoming.

In the 1920s and 30s, The Japan Advertiser was the most influential English-language newspaper in the Far East. The paper had paid subscribers in 112 cities and towns across Japan and Japanese occupied territories.

Ben Fleisher, the paper’s owner and editor, was originally from Philadelphia. He arrived in Yokohama, Japan in 1907 on a stopover from a round-the-world cruise and became fascinated by the culture of the locals and the large expatriate community there.

Before long, Fleisher had assumed ownership of The Japan Advertiser, which he transformed into an English language reporting powerhouse. Advertisers included American companies like Coca Cola and Kraft Foods. Readers included upper-class English-speaking Japanese and foreigners who had settled in Japan. Graduates of American journalism schools vied for reporting jobs with the Advertiser.

In 1940 the Japanese government initiated a hostile takeover of the newspaper and Fleisher fled the country.

Learn more in the Wilfrid Fleisher papers at UW’s American Heritage Center